Can you see through these eyes of ice? Revision
by Android 18 fan
Summary: Eighteen and Krillin, along with their daughter Maron, are now leading a happy life. Can they continue on with this happy life, or will tragedy befall the family? REVISION from the first one I wrote!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: As promised, here is the first revised chapter of 'Can you see through these eyes of ice?'. I was tempted not to work on it because I was busy playing Pokemon, but I knew better than to chunk my sudden urge to write down the drain. Please enjoy and if you could please review so I can know the ups and downs of this.**

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"Bull crap!" Krillin raised his voice competitively as he flipped over the top card in the pile of cards. Once he saw the card, he smiled. "Hah!"

Master Roshi sat at the opposite end of the table where they were playing their game of cards. "Ya' got me again, boy!" He sighed, grabbing the whole pile that was on the field.

"My turn now. Right, daddy?" A cute little girl's voice sounded.

Krillin turned to his daughter, Maron, and answered her. "Yep, sweety. It's open field now, so lay anything you want down."

Maron's head was hardly above the table due to her being so small. "I know, daddy," She smiled. "Two fives and I'm out!"

"Ya' know, I'd say Maron is a better player than even _you, _Krillin!" Master Roshi was not joking. Maron caught onto games like these very quickly and was a very smart five year old.

A new voice that happened to be Eighteen's spoke up as she came up behind her daughter and placed her hand on the top of her head affectionately. "That's because she gets it from her mommy." She grinned a little, which was a rare thing seeing as the only time she ever smiled nowadays was because of her beloved daughter.

"Can't disagree on that one!" Krillin agreed, flashing a handsome smile at Eighteen and their daughter.

"Mommy, is my waffle done?" Maron looked up at her mother.

"Yep, so come in the kitchen." Eighteen removed her hand from her daughter's head as the two of them headed towards the kitchen.

As the two were walking away, you could hear Roshi and Krillin challenging eachother to another game of cards.

"So, you ready to start going to school?" Eighteen asked as she got out a fork for Maron.

Maron made a face. "I'm scared to go...I want you to come with me...can you, mommy?"

"Sweety, mommy can't stay at school with you, but she can walk you to your class to make sure nothing bad happens to you." Eighteen didn't want Maron to have to leave her side because the two were so attached, but she knew that Maron needed an education.

"Why can't you stay?" Maron appeared to be getting a little upset over the fact she could not have her mother with her. "I want you..."

It almost tore Eighteen's heart out to hear the sad tone in Maron's voice. School started tomorrow for Maron and this was her first year which was kindergarten. This would be the first time that Maron had to be seperated from her parents. She wasn't a very independent person, she always wanted someone with her. Change was also a scary thing for her.

"Mommy wants you too, Maron. You know that if she could mommy would, right? It's against school rules for a parent to stay at school with their child." Eighteen explained, sitting down at the table facing her daughter.

"Why?" Maron asked, finally taking a bite of her food.

"Well, mommy is not totally sure herself, she just knows that she can't stay. But you'll be okay, Maron. Eventually, you'll make friends." Eighteen reassured Maron.

"But what if I don't?" Maron asked.

"There's no need to worry about that. Mommy knows without a doubt you'll make friends," Eighteen replied. "But let's not worry about school until it gets here. How about we do something fun today?"

"Like go to the park?" Maron asked, her eyes lighting up in excitement.

"Today is your day. Whatever you want to do, we'll do it," Eighteen responded. "But first you must eat."

"Alrighty!!" Maron exclaimed, digging into her food like never before now.

"Mommy is going to go tell daddy now, so she'll be right back." Eighteen dismissed herself from the table, walking over to her husband.

Life had taken a total one hundred and eighty degree turn ever since Eighteen decided to marry Krillin. For the first time in her life, she felt completely loved. No longer did she feel any negativity towards any of the Z-gang. She felt accepted by everyone around her. No more loneliness, no more pain, no more anything that had to do with negativity. Currently, life was picture perfect. She had the most beautiful, loving, and adoring daughter anyone could ever ask for. Her daughter was the apple of her eye and so was Krillin. If she were to lose those two, she wouldn't be able to carry on with herself anymore. Thanks to them, she was finally able to smile and really mean it.

"Hey, Krillin," Eighteen began as she walked up on the two's game of cards. "You want to come with Maron and I?"

Krillin looked up from his hand of cards. "Where you guys going?"

"Where ever she wants. I want her to have a fun day on her last day before school starts," Eighteen explained. "And I am sure her day would definetely not be as fun without you."

"Sounds fun. When do you suppose we should go?" Krillin asked, setting down his hand.

"Whenever Maron gets-" Eighteen was cut off in mid sentence by her ecstatic daughter.

"I'm done now, mommy! Can we go?!" Maron tugged on her hand impatiently.

Eighteen looked down at her daughter, admiring Maron's zeal. "Sure can. Daddys coming, too."

"Yay!" Maron jumped up in excitement. "That means you get to play on the slide with me!" A humongus smile formed on her sweet face.

Krillin smiled back at her lovingly, grabbing her up and patting her head in fatherly affection. "That's my girl!"

Eighteen watched the two people she loved most in this world with a smile sneeking up on her gorgeous features. Maron was equally close to both her parents. When it came to things like going to the park, Maron really enjoyed it with her father. Eighteen really only went there for Maron because she knew it was one of Maron's favorite places to play at. Oftenly, Eighteen would just sit at one of the benchs and watch her husband and daughter play with eachother. That was enough to make her heart melt with love.

"Can I come?" Roshi butted in playfully.

"No thanks," Eighteen replied, the sound of her voice changing to that of a bitter tone. Even though she had no problem with the Z-gang anymore, she felt anger towards Master Roshi and the way he could be so perverted at times. "I think we've had enough of you for awhile."

"Awwww, c'mon!" Roshi flashed her puppy dog eyes. "Pleeease?"

Eighteen narrowed her eyes at Roshi. "No."

Obviously Krillin felt Eighteen had an excuse to be so rude, so he held off from trying to convince her otherwise. "So what do you say we head out now, Eighteen?"

"Sure," Eighteen replied. "Who do you want to fly with Maron?"

Maron gave a puzzled look as if she were pondering as to who she should fly with. She tilted her head to the side in a cute way and place a finger on her lip thoughtfully as she looked up. "Uhhh...you, mommy!" That would be an obvious answer for a child of her age, seeing as children always seem to rather their mother hold them than their father. It was instinct.

"Alrighty, just make sure you hold on tight to mommy." Krillin put in. He cared about Maron just as much as Eighteen did.

With that, the family of three walked outside to be greeted by the beautiful outdoors. The sun was shining beautifully and the sky had puffy and billowy clouds that made today a very pretty day. The ocean that surrounded them was very peaceful.

"Ready?" Eighteen asked Maron, grabbing up Maron in her arms securely.

"Yep!" Maron replied. "Remember, we're going to the park!" She made sure her parents would not forget.

Slowly, Eighteen lifted herself off the ground. She would would have been faster if it was not for her daughter being in her arms. She was aware that Maron did not like it when either of her parents flew really fast, so she would make sure to not frighten her by doing so.

Krillin was ahead of Eighteen by a little seeing as he did not have a child in his arms, but he made sure not to get too ahead of his girls. "You ready to have some fun?" He said to Maron once they got closer.

"Yep!" Maron yelled happily, smiling.

After awhile of flying, the three of them finally made contact with land- which would happen to be the park. There were many kids with their parents that were playing with them, but none of them were on the equipment with their child- they were just next to the equipment. Much laughter came from the excited children at play. Not wanting to miss out, Maron ran straight ahead once Eighteen set her down. It was a good thing Krillin was there to help her just in case anything bad happened.

"See ya' babe!" Krillin dismissed himself as he ran after Maron. "Wait up, Maron!"

Eighteen watched the two as Krillin caught up with Maron. As Eighteen would've guessed, Maron and Krillin started to play on the big slide. As she sat herself down on a bench, it dawned on her that just a few months ago their daughter had been afraid of 'the big slide'. Well, at least until Krillin had shown her how fun and easy it was to slide down it. Her father was a big influence on her life. He always was the one to help her out with overcoming things. Though there was one thing that Eighteen was not so sure that he could help her out with- overcoming the fear of going to school. It seemed that only a mother was the cure of such a fear. Then again, Eighteen was just as much afraid of Maron going to school as Maron herself was. Maron never left her parents side and this would be a big change in lifestyle for the whole family. Heck, Eighteen would probably end up crying once she got back to the house after taking Maron to school.

Her eyes wandering around her surroundings, she noticed a little boy getting yelled at by his parent. She could not decipher as to why he was being scolded, but whatever it was, she hoped it was for a valid reason. Child abuse was going around like crazy these days and it was only getting worse. It was a good thing that Maron was blessed with a well put together family and not some lunatic slash nutcase family. One thing Eighteen would always make sure of was that noone ever hurt her baby girl like that. She would rather die than have Maron fall into harms way.

Averting her eyes from the scolded child, she looked around to find another child, which happened to resemble her brother. That brought back some sad memories. It had been so long since she had seen her brother that she was sure she never would again. She wandered how her brother would feel about her being married to one of their used-to-be enemies and at that having a child with him. Perhaps he would not overeact and would instead understand. After all, they really weren't androids. If it wasn't for Gero, the two probably would have found a spouse anyways. Though, Eighteen actually was grateful for what Gero did to her. For if he had not, she would not be with the most wonderful husband in the world and would be deprived of her wonderful daughter.

"Waaahhh!!!" A sudden wail that sounded to be Maron sounded, causing Eighteen to jerk her sights back to her daughter. Without even thinking, she automatically jumped up off the bench and rushed towards Maron; getting on her knees to see eye to eye with her.

"What's wrong?!" Eighteen demanded as she met up with her and Krillin.

"_This _guy is what's wrong." Krillin growled, jerking his head towards a man that was only about two feet away from the three of them.

Eighteen pulled Maron up against her and looked up menacingly at the man. He had shiny silver hair and amazing green eyes. He wore tight dark jeans and a tank top for a shirt. He appeared that he was in his mid twenties and went to the gym, for his muscles were well developed.

"What did you do to her?!" Eighteen demanded angerily.

"Nothing at all. She bumped into me and all I did was tell her to be more careful." The man's voice was calm and collected.

"Then why is she crying?" Krillin asked visciously.

"Maybe she hurt herself bumping into me." He shrugged his shoulders slightly. His eyes then met Eighteen's.

"You look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?" Eighteen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I don't believe so," He replied. "You must be confusing me for someone else."

"Listen here, buco, I don't care if you didn't cause our daughter to cry. You better apologize to her right now or you'll be sorry." Krillin instructed.

"Alright, alright. Cool your jets already!" The man sighed afterwords, looking back at Eighteen again directly in the eyes.

"I'm sorry." The man apologized half heartidly.

Maron pulled away from her mother's grip and looked at the man. "You're scary...Just leave me alone!" She sniffled and wiped away her tears with her hand.

"I can do that." The man then walked away without ever looking back.

"Can we leave?" Maron asked, her eyes beginning to water again.

"Where do you want to go then?" Eighteen asked.

"How about we take her to the candy shop? After all, I got some zeni on me." Krillin put in.

Candy was the magic word that ended Maron's crying. " Yeah!!!" She exclaimed.

Eighteen grabbed up Maron in her arms again protectively. She did not want another weirdo hurting her daughter again like that. For the first time, she noticed that a crowd of people had been watching them as they had their little dispute with that strange man. She flashed one of them the eye and walked ahead with Krillin behind her like nothing had ever even happened.

Once they got into the candy store, Eighteen put Maron down. Immediately Maron ran over to the suckers. "Lolipops!" She shouted in excitement, grabbing a colorful one.

"Krillin, I think I know that creep from somewhere." Eighteen spoke to Krillin, her voice full of puzzlement.

"Really? Who do you think he is, then?" Krillin asked, truly curious.

"I wouldn't know, I guess. All I know is I have a hunch that he and I used to know eachother, I'm just not sure as to where..." Eighteen sighed. It bugged her when she couldn't remember something as trivial as that. "But I guess it doesn't matter, anyway. At least he left us alone."

"Yeah, agreed." Krillin smiled.

"Daddy, I want this!" Maron came running up to her father, holding up her colorful lolipop.

"That's all?" Krillin sounded shocked.

"Uh-uh!" She shook her head as in no, grabbing her father by the hand and dragging him onto the other side of the store. "I want that, too!" She pointed at a candy cane that was up high where she couldn't reach it.

Krillin reached up and got it for Maron. "Alright, I think this is enough sweets for now." He smiled at his daughter and walked up to the cash register to pay for the candy.

"Heehee!" Maron giggled, running over to her mother happily.

Once Krillin was done paying for the candy, he returned over to Maron and handed her the lolipop. "Here ya' go..."

"Where to now?" Eighteen asked.

After Maron took a lick from her lolipop, she replied. "Let's go back to the park!"

"I thought you didn't want to go back?" Krillin asked as they all walked out the door.

"The mean man's probably gone anyway," Maron reassured her father and mother. "I'll be more careful this time, I promise."

Soon they approached the park again. There weren't as many people now, oddly enough. But that did not mean there still wasn't a bunch of them, though. So instead of letting Maron be with only her father, Eighteen made sure to hover around their daughter as well. Besides, unlike her or Krillin, Maron was a defenseless little thing. She could easily get snatched up and be led into harms way. It was just a good thing that Eighteen and Krillin were stronger than the average human.

After hours of playing at the park, Maron finally became tired out and was ready to go home. Once the three got home, Maron was tucked into bed, seeing as it was eight-thirty now. She had a big day ahead of herself and if she did not get enough sleep, she would be one cranky five year old. Following suit of Maron, Krillin and Eighteen also went to bed in their room. For Krillin, it was a breeze to get to sleep, but as for Eighteen, tonight wasn't her night. Something was nagging at her; bugging her. That mysterious man at the park. He looked so oddly familiar but at the same time so _not _familiar. There was a weird invisible aura that radiated off the guy that she just couldn't seem to shake.

The one thing that got her mind off that man, though, was the fact that she knew that tomorrow she would have to part with her daughter for awhile. With what had happened today in such short amount of time could easily happen to her at school. What if the kids weren't nice to her and bullied her on her first day? She wouldn't be there to stop them! Eighteen just felt so torn.

Deciding that she should go to Maron's room and make sure her bookbag was already set for school, she slowly manuevered herself off the bed so that she wouldn't wake up Krillin. Walking out the room, she made her way to Maron's room and tip-toed in to grab up her bookbag. It was a cute color of pink and had a red and black rose on it in the middle. Not only that, but it was very small yet appropriate for Maron's size. She then walked out the room and went downstairs to grab some paper and a pen. Once she found one, she began to write a note.

_Dear Maron,_

_ If you're scared, just read this letter. Mommy loves you and she's waiting on you for when you get home._

_ Love, _

_ Mommy_

True, most five years old couldn't read, but this one could pretty good for her age. She was a very intelligent little girl. Eighteen could feel her eyes begin to water but she made sure to hold her tears back. She knew in her heart Maron would be okay and eventually get the hang of going to school. Heck, she probably would eventually start to enjoy it even more than hanging with her parents. Well, the friend part she would enjoy anyways, not the work.

Carefully, Eighteen placed the note in Maron's bookbag and headed back upstairs. Quietly, Eighteen placed the bookbag in Maron's room and went back into hers to find once again that sleep wasn't such an easy thing to grasp.

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**Disclaimer: I hope you guys enjoyed this kind of short chapter. Please review it so I know whether or not it's good. I would like to get some encouragement if possible. Everyone needs some every now and again. Well, anyway, the next chapter will be more put together, along with the others. This story has a LONG way to go!**

**Love,**

** Jennifer**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Man, I have had such a rough week. I am PMSing big time and am real depressed. I think that's a good feeling to have when you're writing a chapter that is going to be sad. -sigh- I really feel hurt by my boyfriend...**

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Eighteen, along with Krillin and Maron, were inside a humongous building with hundreds of children passing by in the halls. They were all in line next to a door that had a sign that read 'Kindergarten- Mrs. Sanders' with a bunch of other kids with their parents. The place was very noisy, but that did not stop the family from talking with each other.

"Mommy, I'm scared." Maron spoke in a shaky voice.

Eighteen looked down at her daughter with sad eyes. She knew that soon she would have to part ways with her beloved daughter. You could only imagine how painful of an experience this was for herself until you actually went through it as a parent. "Don't worry sweety, everything will go just fine." She attempted to reassure her daughter although she was aware it probably wouldn't help her out very much.

Before Maron could reply, Krillin came into the conversation. "Mommy's right, Maron," He soothed. "you're gonna' love school by the time it's over!"

Her father seemed to give her hope. It was amazing at how much of an influence he was on her when it came to scary types of things. For a few seconds, a light gleamed in her eyes. "You really think so?" The light suddenly dimmed. "But I want you!" She was referring to both her parents.

The last statement caused a pain to stab through Eighteen's heart. Bending down, Krillin patted Maron's head lovingly and gave her the biggest, goofiest smile he could conjure up. "You know how Mommy and Daddy have never let you down?" He asked.

Maron nodded.

"Well, it's the same with school," he continued. "we would never _ever _lie to you. Mommy and Daddy love you too much to ever hurt you like that."

Suddenly, the door opened from the classroom to reveal a short lady, about five foot two with red hair and greenish eyes. She appeared to be in her late thirties. A welcoming, loving smile was on her face. "It's time to get to class, everyone. Your names are on the desks." She spoke sweetly, shaking the child's mother or father's hand as they introduced the other while their child walked in to be seated.

After a few other children walked in and left their parents, it was finally Maron's turn. Swallowing hard, Maron spoke to the teacher. "H-hi..." It was very apparent that she was very nervous.

"You're Maron, aren't you?" The teacher sounded really nice. "Are you nervous?" She bent down to see eye to eye with Maron.

"Uh-huh..." Maron muttered.

"Well don't be. Mrs. Sander's class is fun." She smiled brightly at Maron.

She seemed to be calming Maron down a little. The teacher stood up straight again and spoke to both Eighteen and Maron. "She's in good hands." Somehow, the two parents felt as if they could really trust this lady. It seemed as if she had a lot of experience in this field with children.

"Thank you." Eighteen shook hands with the teacher, along with Krillin.

Bending down, Eighteen gave Maron a hug which her daughter gladly accepted. "I love you." Her voice sounded more emotional than usual.

"I-i-i love you too, Mommy..." Maron sounded as if she was starting to cry.

"Please don't cry...be strong for Mommy and Daddy, okay?" Eighteen pulled away from the hug to look Maron in the eyes.

Maron wiped a stray tear off her cheek and sniffled. "Okay..." She replied.

It was Krillin's turn to say his farewell for the day. Squatting down, he gave Maron a hug, too.

"I love you, Daddy." Maron sounded less upset.

"Daddy loves you too," Krillin continued. "today will go by real fast, I _promise!" _

The two pulled away from each other; Krillin getting back up in a standing position.

"You go find your seat now, okay, Maron?" The teacher pushed gently. "I might give away some candy, you know."

Maron's eyes lit up with excitement. "Candy!" She looked up at her parents. "Bye! I love you!" She then ran inside to take a seat.

"She's in good hands." The teacher reassured them.

The two walked away from the teacher and exited the building. Not many words were said between the couple. It was obvious that they were thinking about the same thing as the other- Maron. They both were worried about Maron, but especially Eighteen. She wasn't worried about today exactly, though, but other days. What if down the road Maron got bullied and beat up on by some bigger, meaner kid? How would _she_ react to knowing that her daughter had been hit upon? It would be a sticky situation, that was for sure.

Eighteen sighed, trying to remember how she felt when she was just a child and had been taken to school on the first day. It was so long ago...All she could remember was that she was nervous to the point of having a nervous breakdown and that she cried a whole bunch the first week because she had missed her mother. Maron was similar to her back when she was a child, so she would probably do the same, too.

Finally, Eighteen broke the silence. "You think she's going to be okay?"

"Mhm," Krillin nodded in response. "After all, she's our daughter- tough as nails." He smiled at Eighteen briefly.

"Yea..." Eighteen trailed off.

"Well, while we wait on school to let out, do you wanna' shop?" Krillin offered. He knew how his wife was when it came to shopping, but he wanted to occupy her so she would not be upset.

"Sure," Eighteen sounded more pleasant. "but do you think you can afford to?" She joked.

Walking over to the nearest store in which happened to 'Body Shop', they walked in casually. Immediately, Eighteen was drawn to a really pretty pair of pants that had a matching shirt. "Wow, look at this Krillin!" She said in adoration, checking the price to find herself being blown away at how much it cost.

Krillin came up behind her. "How much is it?" It seemed as if he agreed with her.

"You don't wanna' know." Eighteen replied, walking away to another pair of clothing she really liked.

"Aw, c'mon, it can't possibly be _that _much!" Krillin exclaimed, checking the price. As soon as he saw it, his eyes widened- widened really wide. "Whoah! Two hundred bucks! That's crazy- forget that!" He then followed suit of Eighteen.

Before Eighteen could reply, a woman came up to them with a flirtatious smile on her face that must have been directed towards Krillin. Already Eighteen could feel the jealousy bug sparking within her. The girl wasn't as pretty as Eighteen, but she was still cute. Her hair was brunette and her eyes were a nice brown. "It's designer clothing- that's why it's so much, sir." That disgusting smile was still on the girl's face.

Krillin probably could feel that Eighteen didn't like the way this girl was approaching him, so he made sure not to sound like he was 'flirting' back. "Oh." Was all he could say without Eighteen thinking anything negative.

The girl still found something to reply with. "Have you happened to try on any of our clothing for men in here? I'm sure you would look awefully handsome in them."

That was it- this girl was so going to get burnt. "Uhm, excuse me, but he's taken." Eighteen sounded awefully annoyed.

"By _you? _Man, he could get better _any _day- what's he doing with a girl like you?" The girl's voice changed that easily from all sweetsy to that of a two faced bimbet.

"You better watch yourself," Eighteen warned, eyeing the girl with her evil eyes. "unless you want to get your behind handed to you."

"Is that a challenge?" The girl got up in Eighteen's face.

"Yes." Eighteen replied boldly, not flinching a single bit.

"You sure you wanna' fight me?" The girl shot back.

"Eighteen! Please don't fight her!" Krillin pleaded. "It's not worth it!"

"I know what I'm doing, don't worry." Eighteen replied as calm as ever.

The girl took a step back and then attempted to lunge herself onto Eighteen, in which Eighteen easily dodged due to her being a lot faster than the girl. After all, she was only a human while Eighteen was a cyborg. The girl ended up slamming her body into the wall, making a fool of herself. She seemed to be embarrassed, which that fueled her anger even more. She pushed off the wall and then tried to lunge at Eighteen again unsuccessfully. This time, she fell onto the floor, scraping her knees against it in pain.

"You wuss! You're scared of me! Fight me!" The girl fired off, getting back up to her feet.

True, Eighteen was dying to slam the girl in the face with her fist, but she did not want the law on her. It would hurt school for Maron and mean she couldn't take her to school without getting caught. If it wasn't for her Maron though, this girl would be out cold five minutes ago.

Suddenly, a man with a tag on his shirt, obviously someone else who worked here, came up on them. "Jasmine, what in the world are you _doing?! _Our boss is gonna' _kill _you!" His eyes were wide with shock. He looked at Eighteen and Krillin in apology. "I'm sorry, guys." He then turned to one of the other customers that happened to be staring quite hard. "I apologize for the disruption guys, please carry on..." He appeared very on edge.

Jasmine looked up at the man, rolling her eyes. "Whatever."

"You know you could get charged, right?" He asked in urgency.

"It doesn't matter to me." Jasmine shot back snootily, getting up and brushing her knees off.

A prideful smile formed on Eighteen's lips. She loved embarrassing flirtatious girls that hit on her husband. "Let's get out of here." Eighteen whispered to Krillin, walking out the door with him following suit behind her.

As soon as they walked out the door, the two were shocked to see all the citizens that had been so busily about with their buisness now stopped in their tracks, pointing up at the sky. "What the heck?" Eighteen said in confusion, looking up at the sky. The citizens did have reason to be shocked! Dark, grayish clouds were swarming in, overlaying the once beautiful blue morning sky.

Krillin looked up as well and immediately recognized what was going on. "The dragon!" He exclaimed.

"Someone summoned him?" Eighteen questioned.

"Sure would seem that way," Krillin replied. He sounded very sure of himself. "but I wonder who could be using them?"

"Should we be worried?" Eighteen asked, turning her sights to Krillin.

"Well, we can't really do anything to stop it so it would be a waste to worry." Krillin said.

"Yea, you're right..." Eighteen sighed. "So now what?"

"Let's wait and see what happens," Krillin responded, looking over to the right to find something big in the distance. "It's definitely the dragon...and whoever summoned him, I just felt a power level arise- a big one."

"Then don't you think we can track whoever it is down and stop them?" Eighteen inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think we're strong enough to stop a person with a power level that high, Eighteen. We might have to wait on the others..." Krillin trailed off.

Suddenly, the dark clouds began to evaporate into nothing to reveal the pretty blue sky again. Voices began to calm down and some people started to move along as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.

"That was fast..." Eighteen murmured, blinking a couple times. "Wait, Maron!" Her eyes widened slightly. It dawned on her that Maron was probably in class, looking out the window, scared as could be and wanting her parents.

"She's okay, I'm sure of it." He seemed awefully calm.

He was right- she was jumping to conclusions too fast. Maron probably was not even aware of the odd clouds that had formed all around them. What was she learning about right, Eighteen wondered. Most likely they were learning eachother's names and getting to know each other.

"So...what now?" Eighteen asked.

"Well, we promised Maron that we wouldn't leave the city..." Krillin thought hard. "but maybe tomorrow we can get in touch with the gang and talk to them about what had happened."

"Sounds like a plan." Eighteen agreed.

Everything after here on out was very boring. There was no action within the day after that last incident with the clouds. They just went through the motions until it was time to get Maron. And oh boy, when it was time for them to get Maron, were they not surprised. It was just as they had told Maron.

"And then we played hot potato and whoever won got _this _piece of candy!" Maron was an energetic ball. She held up her Reese to show her parents the candy bar.

Eighteen was real relieved to know that her daughter had enjoyed herself more than she had been afraid of being away from her mother or father. As they were all flying back home, she smiled just a little to herself. She was just so, so happy that Maron was happy with school. Maybe she would not even get bullied on by the other kids this year. After all, Maron was such a happy go lucky girl.

Once they got home, they were immediately greeted by Master Roshi.

"Hey," he continued, looking over the couch he was sitting on to be able to see the small family "how was school, Maron?"

Maron giggled out of happiness and ran over to Roshi. Eighteen did not mind Maron being friendly to Roshi- she knew that he wasn't _that _perverted. He was actually really nice to Maron, which probably was one of the only reasons she left him alive and did not kill him.

Once Maron got done showing Roshi the candy bar, he spoke to Krillin and Eighteen. "Guys, I got a call from Bulma. I think he wants to talk to you about something important."

It was obvious as to what she wanted to talk to him about. "Those clouds!" He exclaimed, walking over to the phone without replying to Roshi. Dialing her number, it only took about four rings for her to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bulma, did you call for me?" Krillin asked politely, but there was a hint of anxiousness in his voice.

"Oh yeah, I did." Bulma replied.

"Well, what was it?"

"I wanted to know if you seen those clouds," Bulma finally replied. "I think someone was summoning the dragon. What about you?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking! But who could have summoned him?" Krillin inquired.

"Well...We have an idea," Bulma began to explain. "Vegeta could feel a really powerful ki when he was in the middle of his training. He tracked it down to find some guy....he said that he looked like a normal human at first glance. But he tried asking the guy what he was up to and instead of just telling Vegeta..." Her voice trailed off.

Krillin's eyes were wide. "W-what happened?"

"He got into a fight with him." Bulma replied.

"Did he win?"

"No...He got dusted pretty bad, Krillin," Bulma sounded really upset now.

"You know...I thought I could sense a powerful ki, too...But I never sensed Vegetas." Krillin said thoughtfully.

"I'm sure he was probably just masking his energy so he could sneak up on the dude..." Bulma sighed. "But yeah, I was thinking that we could all get together because whoever this guy is, he must not be on our side of the field to have attacked Vegeta."

"Do you think he'll attack anyone else?" Krillin questioned.

"This dude sends me that type of aura. So yeah, I am sure he will. If he is stronger than Vegeta, he's stronger than all of us. If we have to try to kill him, it'll be really hard." Bulma started going in Depth

"So tomorrow you want to see us?" Krillin made sure of.

"Yes, right after you take Maron to school." Bulma replied.

"Alrighty, we'll see you then." Krillin said his goodbyes, hanging up the phone.

Turning to Eighteen, she was ahead of the speaking. "So what is going on?"

He spoke so both Roshi and Eighteen could hear what was happening. "Vegeta got attacked by that same ki that I had told you I had felt," He continued. "so Bulma wants to have a meeting with us after we take Maron to school."

"Wow, for Vegeta to get slammed, this guy _must _be strong!" Roshi exclaimed in amazement. "Isn't Vegeta the strongest one in the group now that Goku's not around anymore?"

"I would think so." Krillin replied.

"Daddy, can we watch a movie?" Maron ran over to her father, butting in at the wrong time.

"No sweety, Mommy and Daddy are busy." Krillin replied, not as loving as usual due to what had happened that was so serious.

"Awww..." She walked over to the couch, lying down on it. "then I'm taking a nap." She put in stubbornly.

A sigh escaped Eighteen. "So, what do we do with Maron?" She was thinking on the lines that it might be unsafe for her to go to school with a man on the loose this powerful.

"Maybe we'll keep her out." Krillin replied thoughtfully.

"I don't want to not go to school!" Maron exclaimed.

"I'd say keep taking her guys- just stay in the city while she is at school so you can get to her easily." Roshi offered some good advice for once.

"Good idea." Eighteen actually complemented him.

Daylight soon passed and nightfall came. Maron was tucked in shortly after so, along with Maron and Eighteen. They had a long day ahead of them tomorrow and if they were going to survive, they definitely needed all the rest they could get. As the two were lying down together, Krillin held Eighteen in his arms close, as if he were afraid he would lose her. Gladly accepting of his grasp upon her, she closed her eyes in relaxation. She loved it when Krillin held her...

"I love you..." Krillin murmured in her ear, kissing her cheek lovingly.

"I love you too, Krillin." Eighteen replied softly.

* * *

**Disclaimer: Okay...I feel accomplished! I skipped a shower in the morning before I wrote this, so be HAPPY! I put it ahead of my needs, lol. Anyway, I love this story! It might seem I am jumping ahead into the action but I am not because this is a long story all in itself WITH me writing it like this, so if I prolonged it any longer, it'd be REALLY REALLY long in a boring sense that no one would like.**

** Love,**

** Jennifer**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: So much crap is going on in my boyfriend and I's life. Anyway, please enjoy my story guys. Thanks for the reviews, by the way. I appreciate them.**

* * *

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Eighteen's eyes jolted open in alarm. Frantically, she got into a sitting position and nudged Krillin out of his sleep. "Wake up! Maron's going to be late for school!"

"Huh?" Krillin blinked drowsily as he got up into a sitting position as well. He looked at the clock, which read 8:15 am.

"If we don't hurry, Maron is going to be late!" Eighteen then rushed out of bed and dressed into her clothes.

Krillin rubbed his eyes, obviously trying to get rid of his blurry morning eyesight. A yawn escaped him as he stretched. "I think I'm just going to go back to sleep..." He murmured as he laid down again.

Eighteen twisted around after she was fully dressed and walked over to his side of the bed. Her eyebrow twitched slightly in irritation. Reaching out, she grabbed him by the leg and jerked him out of the bed; him falling onto the floor. "Get _up!" _She demanded.

"Ouch..." Krillin muttered, rubbing his head as he finally started to get up. "You didn't have to be so rough!"

Sighing, Eighteen walked out the room and into Maron's. Flipping on the light, she walked over to Maron and shook her lightly. "Maron, wake up!" She shook her again as Maron opened her eyes groggily.

"Mommy?" Maron asked sleepily.

"You're going to be late for school, get dressed!" Eighteen replied in urgency, grabbing Maron's shoes for her and socks. "You get dressed while mommy makes you your lunch!"

"Okay..." Maron got up into a sitting position and yawned. Drowsily, she walked over to her dresser and began to get dressed.

"When your finished getting ready, meet mommy downstairs so we can leave!" Eighteen instructed, rushing out the room and down the stairs to fix Maron's lunch.

Once Eighteen finished making Maron's lunch, she packed it up in one of her cute bags that she had bought for her in the Summer for school. Walking up the stairs again, she ran into Krillin.

"Good, you got up!" Eighteen exlaimed in relief.

Soon after, Maron ran out her room with her backpack. "I'm ready, mommy!" She said in excitement.

"Alright, let's go." Eighteen declared, putting Maron's lunch in her book bag as they all stormed down the stairs.

Rushing out the door, Eighteen picked up Maron in her arms and jumped into the air. Despite them running late, she refused to fly too fast. It would really scare Maron and she did not want to do that to her. Although, she flew faster than yesterday with Krillin right by her side. Once they got to the school, they walked Maron to her classroom. Looking at the clock, they were relieved to see that they were right on time.

Eighteen and Krillin both gave Maron a quick hug before she went into the classroom. "Love you!" Maron then ran inside the classroom to be greeted by her school mates.

* * *

Once outside, Eighteen and Krillin took off for Bulma's place. It took no time for them to get there, seeing as they were already in the city.

"Why did that have to happen yesterday? I wanted to go back to bed _so bad!"_Krillin complained as they walked up to the door.

Knocking, the door was almost immediately answered by Bulma. She wore a bathrobe and held a cup of coffee in her hands. "Hey guys, C'mon in, everyone else beat you here," She smiled a friendly smile; getting out the way so the couple could walk in. Shutting the door behind them, she spoke again. "Want some coffee?"

"I wouldn't mind that." Krillin took her up on her offer.

Looking around the room, Eighteen recognized Yamcha, Trunks, Goten, Chi-Chi, heck even Gohan! No doubt he must have fought with his mother to let him go. Half of them were sitting down, while the others were standing up, eagerly awaiting to here what everyone else had to say.

Even though Eighteen had gotten used to the Z-warriors and accepted them as they accepted her, she still felt a bit awkward with this many of them in here for some reason. Sighing, she leaned herself against the wall with her arms crossed. Glancing at Krillin, she noticed he was walking back over to her with his cup of coffee.

"Not going to sit down?" He asked.

"Nah." Eighteen replied.

"Well, I guess I will." He walked over to the couch and sat down next to Yamcha.

There was a long moment of silence as everyone was done getting situated. Things were beginning to feel tense.

"So, how can we stop him if he's not on our side?" Gohan broke the awkward silence, sounding full of worry.

There was another long moment of silence that got Eighteen suddenly thinking. What if this guy really did have bad intentions and he destroyed the city while Maron was at school? What if he killed Maron along with other hundreds of thousands of people? She wouldn't be able to stop fretting as long as this man was still on the loose, that was obvious.

"He's stronger than Vegeta...how can we stop someone _that _strong?" Gohan put in again when no one answered.

"I-I don't know, that's a good question," Yamcha sighed hopelessly. "but what if he is not on the bad side? You know Vegeta- he's got a loud mouth on him and he could have insulted the guy."

"No, that's not it," bulma continued "Vegeta told me a little more than what I said on the phone to you guys."

"What more did he tell you?" Krillin asked.

"Well, I accused him of the same thing, but he got really mad and told me that all he did was ask the guy what he was doing with the dragonballs. I don't think Vegeta would lie about that." Bulma explained.

"So he attacked Vegeta after he asked that?" Gohan questioned.

"Pretty much, yea." Bulma responded.

"Is Vegeta okay?" Goten jumped in the conversation as well.

"Not really...he has really bad burns on him," Bulma sounded down "his right arm got broke, too."

"I sure hope he's going to be okay," Trunks also jumped in "is he, mom?"

Suddenly, a voice sounded that happened to be Vegeta's. "Of course, I'm just fine!" Everyone turned their direction to Vegeta as they watched him leaning against the side of the wall for support. His shirt was off to reveal his well toned but horribly burnt stomach. A cast was on his right arm as well.

Bulma rushed over to Vegeta in panick. "Vegeta, you can't be up like this!" She exclaimed frantically.

"I said I am fine, woman!" Vegeta snarled, gritting his teeth as a jolt of pain went through his body. "So leave me be! I can take care of myself!"

"But you're hurt, you can't be up like this! You need to lie down!" Bulma sounded really worried for Vegeta.

"No, I do not! I'm not some ill little baby that needs to be nurtured back to good health!" His words were like venom.

Sighing in defeat, Bulma moved away from him. "You mule..." She growled under her breath.

Everyone wanted to ask the same thing as the other, but all of them were scared to because they did not want their head getting chewed. Well, only one person wasn't, which happened to be Eighteen. It wasn't like her to get into these type of conferences with the other Z-warriors, but she was actually a bit curious herself.

"So, do you remember what the guy looked like?" Eighteen broke the silence.

All the Z-warriors appeared shocked to hear Eighteen speak up. Usually she was just so bored acting when they saw her that she appeared real snobby. Vegeta turned his sight towards Eighteen. He appeared a little shocked as well, maybe even a bit amused because he raised an eyebrow.

"So the android finally decides to talk like the rest of us?" He shot a dig at her.

"Are you going to answer my question or not?" Eighteen questioned, almost snapping back at Vegeta.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her, flashing her a dirty look. Instead of doing the usual and being as stubborn as a mule, he actually replied. "He had black hair and was my height. Good enough?"

Eighteen's eyes averted towards the ground in thought. So it couldn't be that strange man at the park, like she had suspected. Then who could it be?

A chuckle escaped Vegeta as a light gleamed mischievously in his saiyan eyes. His annoying laugh seemed to be directed at Eighteen.

Jerking her head back up, she glared him in the eyes threateningly. "What?" She growled.

"Oh, nothing." He stopped laughing and flashed her a wide smile.

"Tell me." Eighteen demanded.

"It's just, well, I think that what's going on must have something to do with you. After all..." Vegeta trailed off, his ridiculous smile still planted on his face.

"What?!" Eighteen growled, curiousity overcoming her.

"I don't really think you need to know, honestly." He suddenly sounded disinterested in talking to her and instead turned his sights to the other Z-warriors. "So, any other questions you fools have for me to answer?"

It was obvious that Eighteen wasn't going to be able to forget about this conversation so easily. Instead of just dropping the subject, she jerked away from the wall. "This is serious, you better tell me now. Whatever is going on could put Maron at risk!" Her voice held not a single hint of jokingness to it.

"It's amazing, isn't it? How an android can care about something? Your creator really did outdo himself, huh?" Vegeta chuckled again.

"Shut up! He is not my creator and that is besides the point!" Eighteen inched a little closer to Vegeta.

"You better watch it- I might be injured, but I could easily kill you in a heartbeat." Vegeta warned. "And I am not afraid to do it, no matter what that munchkin over there says."

"When it comes to my daughter, I can do anything I set my mind to." Eighteen replied.

"How touching, you actually can love." Vegeta didn't seem to realize how seriously Eighteen was taking all this.

"Now tell me." Eighteen demanded again.

"Don't you understand what no means, android?" Vegeta asked.

"I....said...tell me!" Eighteen snarled, getting up in Vegeta's face blatantly.

"Get out of my face before I rip your head off!" Vegeta snarled, pushing Eighteen backwards.

Immediately catching herself from tripping over her own feet, she attempted to rush back at Vegeta, but Bulma got in the middle of them. Not wanting to injure Bulma, Eighteen stopped.

"Please don't fight, you two!" Bulma pleaded urgently.

Vegeta made his way back up to his feet and without warning, grabbed Bulma by the wrist and jerked her away from them.

"Now, where were we, hm?" Vegeta smirked cockily.

"Vegeta!!!" Bulma shouted desperately still. "Please!"

"Stay out of this, woman!" He flashed her a warning glare.

Not to anyones shock, Gohan stepped in boldly to side with Bulma. He didn't seem intimidated one single bit by the way Vegeta was acting. "Bulma is right- you guys don't need to fight. Think about it, what if this guy really is up to something? It's enough to have Vegeta injured like this, but we don't need any more of us being hurt like that!"

A growl escaped Vegeta. It was clear he did not want to have to listen to Gohan, but then again he was in no position to disagree or try to fight him. Gohan could whip his behind if he wanted to. But although he seemed to be listening to Gohan, he still had to make the last dig at Eighteen.

"What would it matter if I hurt her? It's not like she is strong enough to stop that guy!" Vegeta exclaimed. "She'll just get in the way!"

"Tch..." Eighteen tried to blow off his rude remark.

"Just tell Eighteen what she wants to know, it could help us a whole bunch." Gohan pushed.

"I am not obligated to tell her anything- she is lucky I answered her first question!" Vegeta snapped.

A sigh escaped Eighteen. It was obvious he was not going to give in and just tell her, so she was going to have to give up. Crossing her arms over her chest once again, she walked back over to the wall; leaning against it like earlier.

"Who's wrinkly all over and wears a hat?" Vegeta suddenly asked, smiling mischievously.

"Huh?" Eighteen raised an eyebrow.

"Answer it correctly and you will get _your _answer." He was referring to what she had wanted him to answer her with earlier.

She looked a bit confused at first. "Wrinkly all over and wears a hat?" She echoed.

"Yes," Vegeta replied. "You should know right off the bat."

"The only person that I know that fits into such a category is dead." Eighteen replied, referring to Gero .

"No, this person is alive." Vegeta retorted, crossing his arms in a sense of pride.

"Then who...?" Eighteen murmured, staring off into space.

"Do we know this person as well?" Krillin chipped in hopefully.

"I'm not answering another single question- from any of you," Vegeta snapped at Krillin. "Now if you excuse me, I am going to go get away from you blabbering idiots and enjoy some television."

With that, Vegeta marched out the room, managing to keep himself balanced.

* * *

Everything after the conversation with the Z gang came to be a blur to Eighteen. The whole time she had awaited for the clock to strike 3 pm had seemed to last a millineum, but it had finally came. Eighteen had been very anxious to pick up her precious daughter. With a guy this powerful on the loose, anything could happen. As for Krillin, he had stayed put at Bulma's place until Eighteen returned with Maron. Once Eighteen and Maron had arrived, the family left very quickly.

"So, what all did you find out?" Master Roshi looked up from the television to ask.

"I'll tell you later- when Maron goes to bed." Krillin replied- he did not want Maron to interupt their conversation like the last time.

Roshi nodded in reply and turned back to the TV. Sighing stressfully, Krillin walked over to the kitchen. "You're hungry, right?" He didn't sound his normal, usual loving self. Instead he sounded uptight. No doubt it was from the conversation earlier.

"Mhm!" Maron smiled up at her father sweetly.

"How about some Captain Crunch cereal?" Krillin asked, taking the cereal down and making her food.

Once he finished making it, he handed the bowl to Maron. "You eat at the table while Mommy and Daddy have some grown up talk." Krillin instructed, going up the stairs and into their room to find Eighteen sitting on the side of the bed, deep in thought.

Making his way over to her, he sat down right next to her and put his arm around her, trying to comfort her. He was aware she was probably just as puzled as he, if not more. Vegeta had never told them who he was talking about, despite the length of time they had stayed over there at Bulma's place.

"I don't see who else it could be if it isn't Gero..." She sighed hopelessly. "Do you think Vegeta was just plain out lying to me about whatever happening having to do with me?"

Krillin wasn't sure, either. Vegeta didn't like Eighteen- probably because she had damaged his pride pretty bad when they first met. But would he lie about something like this? Something edged him in the direction that Vegeta wasn't lying. Maybe if they were really lucky, Bulma might find out who he was talking about and call them up.

"I don't know, honestly," Krillin continued. "But whoever this guy is that attacked Vegeta, if he's teamed up with this other person, we'll eventually find out- well, if they really are not on our side, we will..."

"I don't want to find out the hard way, though. Maron is going to school now and I don't want her getting hurt by one of these guys- or by anyone, for that matter!" Eighteen sounded worried.

"You're right...but there isn't a way for us to find out. We don't even know where these guys are now." Krillin replied.

"Then they must be purposely masking their energy levels." Eighteen immediately guessed.

"You're probably right." Krillin agreed.

"Which means, they must not be up to anything good," Eighteen said.

"You know, Eighteen, it would actually make sense that this other person is Gero. After all, we only could feel one massive energy, which was that guy that attacked Vegeta. Gero is similar to you- you can't feel his energy."

"But Gero is dead! Seventeen took care of him a long time ago..." Eighteen almost snapped.

"But what if he was brought back to life through the dragon balls?" Krillin questioned, hoping he was wrong.

Eighteen's eyes widened in realization. "You're right...he could have been brought back to life," She continued "but that means..."

"What?" Krillin asked.

"Well, there is only one person that was friendly enough with Gero to have wanted to bring him back. And if that's the case..." Eighteen drifted.

"You know this other person, too?" Krillin questioned.

A sigh escaped Eighteen and she shook her head, as if trying to forget. "Never mind, I'm probably wrong, anyway."

Suddenly, Maron's voice came up as she entered the room. "Daddy...uhm..."

"Maron, go downstairs. Mommy and Daddy need to finish talking." Krillin tried to not sound mean or impatient with her.

"But I spilled my cereal..." She replied, sounding scared that she would get into trouble.

It was Krillin's turn to sigh. "Get a towel and clean it up." He said, pointing towards the closet on the other side of the hall.

"Okay!" Maron appeared pleased that her father had not scolded her, as she skipped out the room energetically.

"So...What were you saying?" Krillin asked, returning to their conversation.

"Nothing..." Eighteen replied, obviously wanting to end their discussion.

Krillin knew what boundaries not to cross with his wife and being pushy was not one of those things that fell under the yes category. He wanted to know more and it bugged him that he probably would not get the satisfaction of ever knowing."Alright then..." He continued "So I guess we're just going to let these guys make the first move?"

"Yea, we will all just have to be on gaurd, I guess. After all, how can we can expect to make the first move if we can't even sense their energy?" Eighteen made a valid point.

"You're definetely right about that." Krillin agreed.

Before another word could be said, a loud bang came from where the closet was- Maron! Without a word transpired, the two jumped off the bed ad ran out the room in rush. Not so shockingly, they found Maron under a large stack of towels, along with an old bowling ball slowly rolling away from her. At first, Eighteen's reaction was to think that Maron had been hit with the bowling ball, but she soon realized that she hadn't been hit- seeing as she got up just fine.

"Maron! You scared me!" Eighteen's motherly instinct appeared as she ran towads her daughter and gathered her into her arms. "Are you alright?"

"Yep!" Maron nodded, smiling.

"Thank goodness..."Krillin sighed.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I have been VERY ultra busy! Let's see...I have to make an afghan for Home Economics...which is hard, so I had to spend lots of time on it. I finally got my A, I brought up my English to an A, AND my Science to an A. That is a lot of stress on my part. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed...Uhm, things are gonna start to get good, don't worry. This is going to be one heck of a long story.**

**Love,**

**Jennifer**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Man, I am so bored! By the way, I won't be updating much between March 24th thru the first week of April because I will be recovering from getting my tonsols/adenoids removed. Yay me, what fun! So anyway, I will update this story at least once before then :) Enjoy, I hope.**

* * *

TWO MONTHS LATER

Nothing- not a thing came up ever since the conference held between the Z-warriors. In fact, everything was oddly enough quite peaceful. The sun hadn't stopped shining, well, except for when night came, but when it was daytime, they sky was beautiful. It was as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.

Maron had became very into school and was doing excellent for a kindergartner. She was probably one of the smartest kids in the whole classroom. No longer did she have any fears of leaving her mother and father behind. Heck, she loved school so much that she had finally told her parents she was not afraid if they left the city. At first her parents had not went along with the idea of leaving the city because of those two guys on the loose, but eventually they had began to relax after the first month of school had quickly zoomed by. It was a relief to her parents, especially Eighteen, to know that Maron had made friends.

"Mommy, mommy!" Maron exclaimed as she ran towards Eighteen. "Guess what, guess what?!"

Eighteen, amazingly not to be seen with Krillin, was there to pick up Maron outside the school. "What, sweety?" She bent down to see eye to eye with Maron.

Maron held out a paper and handed it to Eighteen. "I get to go on a field trip!" She smiled in excitement at her mother.

"To Fishweir park?" Eighteen raised an eyebrow at the name- it sounded funny.

"Yep!" Maron nodded.

"When is it?" Eighteen searched the paper to find her answer.

Before Eighteen could find it, Maron volunteered the answer. "This Friday!"

"No cost," Eighteen murmured "Do you want me to come or do you just want it to be you and your friends?"

"Uhmmm...You can stay at home, if you want." Maron replied. Obviously she didn't want her mother to attend it with her.

"Alright then. Let's go home then, now. Okay?" Eighteen instructed, walking Maron away from the school before finding a secluded place to begin their flight home. After all, she didn't want to freak any of the civilians out.

* * *

"That was quick!" Krillin exclaimed as Eighteen and Maron entered the household.

"When did he get here?" Eighteen questioned sternly as she pointed towards Yamcha, whom was sitting at the table playing cards with Krillin.

Yamcha accidentally met eyes with Eighteen and he seemed to cower under her glare. "Please don't hurt me!" Yamcha begged, sounding like a little crybaby.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Eighteen walked off with Maron following behind her.

"Can we watch Spongebob, mommy?" Maron asked her mother once they got up the stairs and into her parents room.

"Sure." Eighteen laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.

* * *

Later that night after Krillin and Eighteen had tucked in Maron for bed, the two sat up on the roof of Kame House; staring up at the stars together. It was a warm night, but they still were cuddled up against each other lovingly. Eighteen wore a pretty pink silk nightgown and Krillin wore his boxers and a tank top.

"See that one?" Krillin pointed up towards the sky. "That one is Canis Major and that one over there is Pegasus."

Eighteen appeared fairly impressed. "You sure know your constellations, huh?" She smiled a little.

If it wasn't for the darkness, Eighteen would've been able to see Krillin blushing. It was a good to know that even after five years of being married and getting to know each other more and more every day that Krillin still blushed like that.

"Yea, I guess you could say so." He replied, trying not to sound egotistical.

A relaxed sigh came from Eighteen as she closed her eyes; her head resting upon Krillin's muscular chest. It felt so nice just to be lying against the man she loved and to finally have some romantic alone time. Ever since Maron had been born, it had been a bit harder to get this type of alone time, even at night due to nightmares once and a while.

Krillin bent his head a little and kissed Eighteen on the head lovingly. "Love you." He said lowly.

"Love you, too..." Eighteen replied gently.

If only everyone else could see the side of Eighteen that Krillin seen when they were alone. Then maybe everybody would never doubt Eighteen. It wasn't that they didn't trust her, it was just that sometimes Krillin could still sense to this day that the Z-warriors were worried about Eighteen in some way. Well, it was mostly Vegeta that gave off the negative aura, but once in a while he could sense it from the others as well. Maybe they were just worried that Eighteen would hurt him?

"Oh, Krillin..." It dawned on Eighteen that she had forgotten to tell him something.

"Yea, babe?" Krillin asked.

"Maron's got her first field trip coming up this Friday." Eighteen responded.

"Where is she going to go to?" Krillin sounded excited for his daughter.

"Some park- she says she doesn't want us going, so I think we should just let her go by herself. After all, it's just some park, you know?" Eighteen explained, sounding sure of her daughter's safety.

"You really think she'll be safe?" Krillin asked.

"Well, yea. She has plenty of friends to keep her company by what she's told me," Eighteen replied "Besides, I don't want push ourselves on her- do you?"

"You're right, I guess," Krillin sighed "tomorrow will be wednesday, right?"

"Yea, so she doesn't have that long." Eighteen said.

"Man, I'm looking back and laughing! We used to be worried that Maron wouldn't like school, but now she digs even more than being at home!" Krillin exclaimed.

"She's pretty popular." Eighteen put in.

"Just like her momma' was back then." Krillin smiled, complementing Eighteen.

Eighteen paused for a moment. "Actually, I wasn't real popular back then."

"No way! You're like the hottest woman on earth!" Krillin exclaimed.

Eighteen blushed. "I might've been pretty but I didn't fit in."

"Why not?" Krillin asked.

"I was smart and didn't make myself out to be stupid like the rest of the kids at school." Eighteen replied bluntly.

"Oh." Was all Krillin replied with amazingly.

After that, there was only silence that filled the atmosphere. Eighteen's eyes averted towards the ocean, where the beautiful full moon reflected off the calm sea. It was such a nice view to be up on the roof, enjoying such a sight with her husband. Suddenly, something caught Eighteen's eye in the water.

"Krillin, a fin!" Eighteen exclaimed in amazement.

Immediately Krillin spotted the fin, right before it dissapeared. "Wow..." He murmured.

Before the two could say anymore, another fin appeared, then another, and then another. It was marvelous!

"I've never seen anything like that before in my life..." Eighteen murmured in awe.

"Really?" Krillin asked, appearing befuddled that Eighteen hadn't such a sight before now.

"For real...I used to live in an apartment complex before I was kidnapped by Gero." Eighteen explained briefly.

Oddly enough as it seemed, Krillin had never known much about Eighteen's past. She never really brought it up in their conversations, even before they were married. Back when he was still hung on wanting to know, he had learnt the hard way that she didn't want to discuss anything about it.

"You didn't have any ponds outside or anything?" Krillin questioned.

"No, but even if they did, they wouldn't have had any dolphins in them." Eighteen pointed out, smiling again.

"Yea, I should've already known that." Krillin chuckled lightheartedly.

Suddenly, Eighteen scooted up to be face to face with Krillin. Repositioning herself, she laid on top of Krillin's chest. Looking down at him, her eyes twinkled with love. No one could ever take Krillin's place in her heart, no matter what ever happened. Leaning forward, she closed her eyes as she gently kissed him. Automatically, Krillin wrapped his arms around Eighteen's small frame as he closed his eyes as well.

After a couple seconds of kissing, the two pulled away from each other and simply stared into the others eyes. Finally, Eighteen got off of Krillin and rolled back onto her back where she had been earlier. Placing her head back on his chest, she closed her eyes again.

Krillin smiled down at Eighteen, love building up inside his chest. She was so wonderful and special to him. Not a single other woman on earth could ever take her place. If anything ever happened to her, he would probably just fall apart. Although, he was aware that Eighteen would never leave him. He knew Eighteen loved him just as much as he loved her.

Reaching a hand down, he began to lovingly stroke Eighteen's soft cheek. It was funny...Eighteen was so powerful, yet she felt so soft all over and looked so innocent as he held her in his arms. If a complete stranger were to come up on them right now, it would never dawn on them that Eighteen was so massively strong when it came to fighting.

"Remember back when I very first kissed you?" Eighteen asked.

Krillin was a bit shocked that she'd bring that up. "Yea, you scared the pee out of me just about."

"Because you thought I would kill you?"Eighteen guessed correctly.

"Heck yea!" Krillin exclaimed.

"But you know I had no thoughts of such things, right?" Eighteen questioned. "After all, you were too cute to be killed."

Krillin blushed a little. "I might've been cute, but nowhere near deserving of you."

"Now that's not true," Eighteen pulled her head up to look Krillin in the eyes again "or I wouldn't be here today..."

Krillin's gently grabbed the back of her and pulled her into a kiss with him. Closing their eyes, the kiss became much more passionate than the last.

* * *

**Disclaimer: Sorry for the oh so short chapter, but there is not much action in this chapter. It's the calm before the storm, if you catch my drift. Besides, I think that I needed to let the reader know just how much these two lovers really love each other. Next chapter or two will be getting into some dramatic action. You're going to HATE the antagonist sooo much! **

**Love,**

**Jennifer**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I'm already back with my possibly last chapter before my horrifying surgery! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Wednesday. along with Thursday, had passed by awefully quick. Those two days consisted of the same ruitine- get up, get dressed, take Maron to school, pick Maron up from school, and go back to bed for another repetitive day. Still, there was not a single sign or trace of the two mysterious people that Vegeta had described. In fact, it had been so long since the incident had happened that it would appear every body was starting to forget about what had even happened.

Today; Friday, was Maron' field trip. All week Maron had been looking forward to this trip and had been talking nonstop about it. Although, it might have appeared as a dumb field trip to older kids, Maron was younger and never had been on one at all.

So, after Eighteen and Krillin had dropped off Maron at school, they went back to the house to spend some alone time together. They felt as if they could trust that Maron wouldn't get into any trouble. After all, Maron knew right from wrong.

"Yeehah!!!" Master Roshi shouted, jumping up and down as he jammed with his boombox full blast.

Krillin was with him as well, dancing to the music a lot better than Roshi. That was not much to say though, seeing as Roshi was as horrible as horrible could get.

A sigh escaped Eighteen, who was sitting on the couch with her head leaning against her hand for support. She looked very bored. Ugh, how she despised techno music, especially during the wee hours in the morning. It looked like pretty soon that she was going to blow a gasket and turn off the blare- it was starting to give her a headache.

As the music faded away, Krillin spoke. "Hey babe, why don't you come up and dance too?"

"Tch...How about you instead turn that racket off?" Eighteen growled.

Before Krillin could reply, the music started back up again with a bunch more annoying 'boom, boom, boom'. Closing her eyes, Eighteen tried to force the headache out of her but to no avail.

That was it...she was turning that noise down. Getting up, she walked over to the boombox and turned it down very low. "I'm going to bed." She announced, walking towards the stairs.

"Why?" Krillin asked.

"I have a headache....keep the noise down..._please." _She forced the words please out begrudgingly.

"Party pooper!" Roshi complained.

If it was not for her headache, she would have turned around and smacked Roshi. Ignoring him, she headed to her room

Sighing, Eighteen laid down under her covers. She didn't know why, but she felt just so suddenly tired. Not only that, but she felt somewhat stressed out along with her headache. Sleep hit Eighteen hard within the next five minutes.

* * *

"Mommy!" A beautiful young blonde that looked at the age of sixteen pleaded. "Please don't leave me with him!"

The mother twisted around angrily towards her daughter before she headed out the door. "Get out my face and quit lying!"

"But mom!" Tears were beginning to well up in the young girl's eyes. "I'm scared!"

The mom grit her teeth in anger. "I _said_ get out my face!" The mother suddenly pushed the girl back, causing the girl to almost trip on her own two feet.

Before the girl could say anything back, the mother opened the door and slammed it behind her on her way out. A sigh escaped the girl. How could her mother be cold and cruel? What decent mother in this world would refuse to believe their one and only daughter over some stranger? The girls heart was crushed. Her mother had left her on her own to defend herself.

Suddenly, as if time had skipped over, the girl was no longer in the same room, but in what seemed to be her room. She was lying on her bed sound asleep. The light was out, but the door was still open with light shining in.

A man then walked in that was very well built. It was hard to make out his face, but he gave off the aura that he was really angry. He made his way over to the young girl and pulled the covers off of her. Reaching down, he grabbed her by the ankle and yanked her off the bed.

The girls eyes opened wide in pain. "Ow!"

"You told her!" The man snarled at the girl. "I specifically told you not to say anything! And what do you do anyway?!"

"I'm sorry!" The girl immediately curled into a ball, as if she were expecting a brutal beating.

"Liar!" The man snapped, kicking his foot out and into the girl's side.

"Uhn!" The girl grit her teeth in pain as she tried her best to deal with it.

"What was going through that thick head of yours, anyway?" The man demanded, kicking her in the side another time.

When the girl did not respond, he put some input as to why. "Because you thought your mommy would actually listen for once?" When the girl did not reply, he spoke again. "Well? Answer me already!"

Tears began to well up in the girls eyes. "No, I just thought..."

"Thought what?"

"That my mom could help..." The girl murmured.

Once again, the place twisted into something different, much different. No longer was the girl in the scene, but instead there was a room that seemed to be a laboratory. It looked very familar...

A child lay on on the ground, leaning against the wall. Her feet were tied together and her arms were tied behind her back. She was passed out cold with her head leaning forward. You could not make her face very well, but she appeared to look like Maron.

The same man from the last scene came walking into the room. For some reason, his face couldn't be made out very well niether. He walked over to the little girl and got on his knees to see eye to eye with the girl. Shaking her, he woke her up. Lifting her head, you could now see her face clearly.

"Oh Maron, it's time for your medicine...." The man grinned from ear to ear mischieviously.

"No!!" The girl shrieked in absolute terror.

"C'mon, it's not that bad..." The man then got up and walked over to a cabinet to grab the medicine.

Walking right back over to the girl, he bent back down again. "Eat up." He then forced her mouth open.

Maron shook her in defiance. Whatever he was trying to force feed her, it was very yummy probably. After awhile of struggling, the man became evidently very angry. "Ugh! Whatever then, who needs you anyway?!" He snarled, backhanding Maron across the face violently, causing her to pass out and fall over on her side.

The man got up in a hurry. As if he were walking directly towards a camera that you could see out of, you could now see his face very clearly. Green eyes...jet black hair...It was _him._ Brandon.

* * *

"Eighteen, it's okay!" Eighteen suddenly awoke to Krillin's voice trying to calm her down.

"Huh, what?" Eighteen murmured, getting up into a sitting position.

"You were just dreaming." Krillin explained.

"What do you mean?"

"You were yelling hysterically, babe," Krillin answered, sounding concerned. "have a nightmare?"

"I guess so..." Eighteen sighed. "what time is it?"

"About one pm," Krillin replied "why?"

"Just wondering..." Eighteen sighed.

* * *

"And what's with those pigtails, anyway?" A little girl with long brunnete hair asked Maron.

Maron and the girl appeared to be quite far away from the other students that were playing the playground. In fact, they were both on the basketball court. It was just a good thing that noone was playing on it right now or they would get trampled.

Maron appeared as if she were going to cry. Her feelings got hurt a bit too easily. "My mommy says I look pretty in them." She made an attempt to defend herself.

"Well your mommy must be pretty stupid because it looks ugly on you!" The girl lashed out meanly.

"No it doesn't!" Maron shot back.

"Yes it does!" The girl fired right back.

"No it _doesn't!" _Maron finally snarled.

Suddenly, a man came up to the two girls. "You need to learn your manners, young lady." He instructed, pointing at the girl accusingly.

"Hmph!" The girl walked away angrily.

"Thank you, Mister!" Maron smiled up at the man.

"You're quite welcome," the man smiled right back "but, can I ask a favor from you? Since I helped you with that mean girl?"

"Uh-huh." Maron agreed.

"I lost my dog about five minutes ago. I can't find him....think you could help me?" The man asked.

"What's he look like?" Maron asked.

"He's a little shorter than you and he's white with brown spots. His name is Jake," The man explained. "I've looked everywhere but over there." He pointed towards the woods.

"You want me to go with you and look there?" Maron questioned.

"Yep," he smiled again at her "so follow me."

Following the man, Maron went into the woods with him. There was no sign of any dog at all.

Out of nowhere, the man pulled out a napkin from his pocket as Maron was turned around looking for the dog.

"I don't see any dog, mister." Maron said.

Without replying, the man bent forward and grabbed up Maron, placing the napkin on her mouth. Before long, Maron passed out in his arms. A sly smile made it's way to the man's face. "Perfect..." He murmured, dissapearing from the forest without a trace.

* * *

Ring, ring! The phone rang at Kame house.

Sighing in annoyance, Eighteen picked up the phone as she lay on her bed sprawled across it lazily. "Hello?"

"Is this the parent of Maron?" A woman asked.

"Yes, why?" Eighteen replied, sounding suddenly worried. Had Maron gotten in trouble?

"You're daughter has went missing." The lady sounded as if she were sorry for Eighteen.

"What do you mean 'gone missing'?!" Eighteen demanded suddenly, her eyes wide with panic.

"I'm very sorry ma'am. We've looked all over the place for her," the lady continued. "she isn't anywhere to be found."

"What park was she at again?" Eighteen asked, ignoring the woman's sorry excuse of an apology.

"Fishweir park," the lady continued. "it is-

Right after the ladies answer had registered through Eighteen's mind, she hung up the phone and jumped up off the bed in a hustle. How could this happen to Maron? She knew what her mother and father had taught her! What if somebody had gotten ahold of her? Or worse- what if someone was slaughtering her at this very moment? Eighteen would just die...

As Eighteen stormed downstairs and towards the door, Krillin looked up from the TV. "What's wrong, babe?" He asked with concern.

"Maron's gone missing!" Eighteen replied quickly, her voice shaking due to her panic as she jerked the door open.

"What?!" Krillin exclaimed, jumping as well in panic.

"Follow me!" Eighteen commanded, running out the door with Krillin right behind her.

Unlike all the other times, they didn't care whether anyone noticed them flying or not. Their daughter was much more important than someones opinion. Due to them not holding back an inch on their speed, they made it in no time to the park and landed uncasually. There were very few people out there that were sitting down. The few people that were there looked up in shock.

"Whoah...did you just fly?!" A young man that appeared to be a high school drop out exclaimed.

Ignoring the mans words, Eighteen and Krillin rushed past him as fast as they could run. Coming to a halt, Krillin instructed. "You go that way!" He pointed towards the woods. "I'll go this way!" He pointed towards the opposite side of the woods.

With that, they both took off in different directions.

The woods were a little darker than what is was outside of them, causing it to be harder for Eighteen to see anything as well as she would have earlier today. Her heart was pounding with anxiety. What if she couldn't find Maron?! It could get even worse, though. What if she found her daughter's dead body somewhere? No, she was _not _dead! Eighteen had to do her best to think possitively.

"Maron!" Eighteen yelled, trying to get her daughter to hear her if she were there.

Nothing. No sign of her at all. "Maron!!" Eighteen tried again as she walked even deeper into the woods.

Suddenly, she heard something in the bushes began to move around. Was it her? A tinge of hope entered her heart "Is that you, Maron?" She asked, her voice really shaky.

No, it wasn't Maron...A squirrel ran out the bushes and into one of the nearest by trees. Her hope was squashed to nothing. She felt like just breaking down and crying her eyes out. In the long run, it was _her fault _for letting this happen to Maron! How could she have let Maron go on her first field trip alone? She had trusted her daughter too much...She should have insisted on going with her! How could she have been such a bad parent?!

Forever more if she could not find her daughter would she hate herself and feel guilty. Tears began to water up in Eighteen's soft blue eyes. She refused to give up! She headed even deeper into the woods, still yelling out Maron's name.

"Maron!"

Nothing, once again.

_"She's safe with me..."_ A voice suddenly went through Eighteen's head.

Eighteen's eyes widened wide in shock at the voice. "Show yourself!" She demanded.

_"In due time..." _The voice then slowly began to fade away into nothing.

She had to tell Krillin! Whoever in the world had Maron right now, they weren't any ordinary fellow! Running as fast as she could, she got over to the other side of the woods.

"Krillin!" Eighteen shouted.

"Yea?!" She heard his voice as he ran towards her.

"Whoever has got ahold of Maron isn't just an average person." Eighteen explained.

"What do you mean?" Krillin asked.

"The person spoke to me telepathicly," Eighteen continued "All he said was that she 'safe' with him."

"To heck with that she's safe!" Krillin snarled in rage at the fact that some man had ahold of their precious daughter.

_"Go home and you will learn more..." _The voice sounded again, continuing _"Don't tell him anything else I say or you might never see Maron again..."_

* * *

**Disclaimer: Sorry, I wanted to update this so it was not as long. This is my final update before my surgery. Expect that after a month I will have another chapter up. MysticSaiyagirl or something like that I believe sent me a pm asking me to update and I know how it feels to do that and really want them to update...So I did! Wish me luck for my surgery, guys!**

**Love,**

**Jennifer**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Well, I got the surgery done- it sucked! You can possibly understand how horrid I felt this last week and a half! Constant pain medicine that made me almost throw up and a whole buch of sleeping accumulated! I made straight A's again, by the way! Hope you guys like this chapter. Poor Maron!**

* * *

"You guys have got to get some sleep," Roshi exclaimed "it's been a week and no sign of her!"

"Eighteen twisted around. Her hair was a mess! "Excuse me? You expect us to just _give up_ on our daughter?"

Roshi backed away out of fear that Eighteen might lash out at him. "That's not exactly what I meant..." He sounded apologetic.

"Then what _did _you mean?!" Eighteen demanded, narrowing her eyes at Roshi.

"N-never mind..." Roshi replied, just wanting to get away from Eighteen's path.

"Think before you speak from now on." Eighteen then twisted back around to posting posters of Maron back up on the wall.

"I think I'm just gonna' go off and head over to the store..."Roshi tried to edge his way out.

"I don't think so!" Eighteen pointed towards a stack of posters that she was not using.

Roshi sighed and then grabbed the posters. "Yes ma'am!"

"Go over to some other place and start posting them up." Eighteen instructed.

"Yes ma'am!" Roshi replied again.

Ever since Maron had been missing, Eighteen nor Krillin had gotten any sleep. It wasn't like they had attempted to get any, though. They were way too worried about their daughter to be that selfish. In fact, they had not done anything to take care of themselves. That explained Eighteens hair. She hadn't even thought of herself. All she cared about was finding their precious daughter.

It cut Eighteen deep to know that this had happened to her daughter. If only _she _had been there! If only she hadn't allowed Maron to go without her! In a way, it was her fault...wasn't it? She didn't live up to the parent she should have acted as.

Why did it have to be Maron?! Why couldn't it have been someone else's child?! Then everything would be okay and they would still be a happy family! It was hard not to think of what could be happening to her right now, but Eighteen had to try to push those horrifying thoughts out of her mind. If she _ever _found out who kidnapped their daughter, she would no doubt kill them in an instant! No mercy!

Tears began to tear up in Eighteen's eyes as she posted up another poster on yet another wall. How could this happen...? It was funny, wasn't it? Eighteen could easily destroy this whole population, but yet she couldn't find just two people- the person who had her daughter and Maron.

As she went to get another poster, she found that she was all out. Roshi had the rest. Drats! Maybe this meant that now was the time to start approaching people again.

Sighing as wiped away her tears onto her sleeve, she headed towards a group of guys that were conversing. They probably hadn't seen her, but still, she had to try. Stopping once she got to them, she spoke. "Excuse me," she pulled out a spare poster in her pocket to show them Maron "have you seen my daughter? She went missing last week on a field trip."

The guys looked at the picture for a few seconds and the leader of the group replied. "Sorry, babe, but I don't think so." He smiled at her.

Eighteen rolled her eyes. "Don't call me that..." She murmured, turning her back on them immediately and walking away to the bench where an old man and a middle aged looking woman sat.

"Excuse me, but have you seen my daughter? She went missing on a field trip last week." Eighteen approached them, showing them the paper.

"I'm sorry, no I haven't." The man seem sincerely sorry.

Eighteen turned her attention all on the lady. "Well, have you?" Her tone was drenched with hopelessness.

"No, honey, I haven't," the lady continued "but don't give up. Don't let go of that hope because when you lose hope, it's all over."

"Thanks...I guess..." Eighteen sighed.

"I'll keep her in my prayers. Maron right?" The lady confirmed.

"Yes ma'am." Eighteen replied.

With no more said, Eighteen walked down the street and turned the corner. Her stomach suddenly growled. Obviously, she was more hungry that what she had thought. Although, she refused to give up on Maron's search.

What the heck?! Something caught her eyes in a restaraunt she had passed by. Backing up so she could see, it was Roshi, hitting on some lady. Where were the posters? He was supposed to be helping with Maron, not socializing with woman! Oh, she would get on his case in no time!

Stomping into the restaurant, she walked right into the two's conversation. "Aren't you supposed to be posting up those posters?" She demanded.

Roshi's eyes popped open wide with shock. "How'd you get here so fast?!" He demanded.

"You better get your lazy behind out this place right now before I do it for you!" Eighteen almost yelled. Her voice was full of anger.

"I'm sorry!!" Roshi tried to apologize.

Suddenly, right before Eighteen was about to pull Roshi by the ear out, a woman with blonde hair approached them. She appeared to be in her forties.

"Is that you, Rose?" The woman's eyes were wide.

Eighteen raised an eyebrow. This couldn't be! No frickin' way! "And you are?" She sounded very rude. If this was really who she thought it was, then rudeness was all the lady deserved.

"Your mother," she continued "don't you remember me?" She sounded hurt.

"Who in the world would _want _to remember someone like you?" Eighteen snarled.

"I'll just be heading out now..."Roshi tried to get his way out of this.

"I don't think so!" Eighteen grabbed Roshi by the arm and jerked him onto the floor. "Don't move from that spot or you're one dead man."

"Ma'am!" One of the managers approached Eighteen. "You're making a racket! Please sit down or leave!"

Oh, this was not her day to have someone say that. "Get out of my face!" Eighteen pushed the man lightly, causing him to slam into a table and fall onto his back.

"Oh my gosh! Rose, what's wrong with you?!" Her mother demanded in shock.

"Uh, well let's see! My daughter has been kidnapped, I've had the worst week of my life, and now I've ran into you of all people! How can it get any worse?!" Eighteen replied.

"Wait...you have a daughter?" Her mother's mouth dropped.

"Yea, duh. I'm married," Eighteen replied callously. "so if you were expecting it to be just some random kid that I spat out because of some one night stand, which I'm sure you're used to doing because you didn't have no problem with it when I was around, you're wrong!"

"Can we please catch up at my house?" Her mother suggested.

"Why?"

"Please, I really want to know what's been going on with my daughter." Her mother pleaded.

Eighteen sighed. "Fine then, but I'm calling my husband to come as well."

"No problem, you can use my cell phone." Her mother offered.

Handing Eighteen the cell phone, she dialed Krillin. She wandered how he was doing with his hunt for Maron.

"Hello?" Krillin picked up.

"Krillin, can you please meet me at uhhh...Red Lobster? It's really important." Eighteen explained briefly.

"Nahm babe, I'm gonna' stick to what I need to do."

"Okay, bye..." Eighteen sighed.

Walking over to her house, she spoke. "It's only a few blocks away."

"You still live there?" Eighteen asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Must suck then..." Eighteen muttered as they came upon the house.

As they entered the house, Eighteen wasn't shocked to find that the house was a mess. "Don't mind the mess." She seemed a little embarassed.

"Dating some other guy now?" Eighteen commented.

"No, I am single," Her mother replied. "you can sit on the couch right there."

"All you ever dated was scum." Eighteen seemed too negative.

"Now, I wouldn't say that..." Her mother didn't agree.

"Excuse me? You and I know darn good and well how all those boyfriends of yours treated me!" Eighteen snarled.

"They were nice to you. Althought, that reminds me, Brandon!" Her mother suddenly shot off with.

"I don't like him." Eighteen immediately said.

"I wouldn't either if I had been in your shoes." Her mother sounded kind of like she felt sorry for Eighteen.

"Why do you sound like you suddenly care, anyway?" Eighteen asked.

"I've always cared." Her mother replied.

"Yeah, right. Every time I came to you all you ever did was slap me and tell me to shut up and that your boyfriend would never do that!" Eighteen snarled.

"Look, I have something to tell you that I think is of importance!" Her mother finally raised her voice as well.

"What?" Eighteen sighed angrily.

"You know Brandon is still alive, right?" Her mother continued. "He's been reported as a sexual predator and murderer. Maybe he's got your child. After all, he had an obsession with you."

Eighteen's eyes widened. Her dream! Maybe it was him! "But why would he want my daughter?"

"Maybe so he could use her as bait?" Her mother guessed.

"I'll pulverise him when I get hands on that sack of-" Eighteen raised her voice.

"But then again, there are many fish out in the sea. It could be anyone for all you know." Her mother replied.

"So, since there is proof he has raped someone, do you not believe me now?" Eighteen asked. Obviously there was a question deep within that she had sealed shut so that she could move on and be happy.

"I don't believe you," her mother sounded like a mule. "back then, he was different. He was a wonderful man back then."

"You know, you're the stupidest whore I've ever known. I can't wait until it is your time to rot in hell. I am sorry I wasted my time on you. Thanks for the information, I'm leaving." Eighteen jumped up, rushing towards the door.

As she was on her way out, she grabbed the TV and threw it out the window. "Happy early birthday!" Grabbing the door knob, Eighteen jerked the door open. Slamming the door behind her, she heard something crack. Maybe it was something important, hopefully.

There were a whole bunch of people that had stopped and were staring at the broken window and the TV. Hah, if they only knew she had thrown it. They'd all be even more shocked!

_"So you know now, eh?"_

"Huh?" Eighteen murmured as she heard the voice go through her head.

_"Meet me on Royce....alone; tonight." _

The voice then faded away into nothing.

Was she going nuts?! A sigh escaped Eighteen. Today had been one rough day and she was proably just imagining things.

"Hey! What the-" Her mother suddenly burst out the door; her body trembling with rage.

Eighteen twisted back around to see eye to eye with her mother. "What's the matter? I took away something of yours that was important to you?" Eighteen asked.

"How dare you!!! You're my daughter!" Her mother spat.

"You know, maybe you can finally realize how I felt back then. And you know, I can do whatever I want now that I'm twenty four and not sixteen. Don't you just love the law? I know I do." Eighteen smiled sarcastically at her mother.

"Don't you ever step foot into my house again!!!" Her mother snarled.

"Who'd want to?" Eighteen rolled her eyes, walking away.

"Don't you walk away from me!!" Her mother demanded, following Eighteen.

"Leave me alone. I don't want to hurt you...or wait. Maybe I do." Eighteen growled twisted back around as she got in her mother's face.

"I'll be nice- you can have the first punch." Eighteen pointed at her cheek.

Her mother grit her teeth. "You're gonna' regret that!"

Pulling her fist back, her mother swung at Eighteen's face; slamming right into her cheek. Eighteen didn't flinch a hare. A smile slowly crept its way to Eighteen's face as her mother looked quite shocked.

"You like?" Eighteen raised an eyebrow. "It's metal that Brandon implanted especially for me."

Her mother pulled her fist back in pain.

"My turn now," Eighteen swung her fist into her mother's gut lightly so she wouldn't kill her. "Feel good?"

Her mother fell to the ground as she threw up. Humph, it was time to get out of her before she ended up killing her mother. Even though she pretty much hated her, she still did not want to be known as a killer. Jumping up in the air, she blasted off into the sky to go find Krillin.

_"Remember...Royce...tonight..." _

* * *

**Disclaimer: OMGOSH!!! I felt so much passion when I wrote that with her mother! Yeah, this is not the same mother from my other story. I had an old story up called "High School Nightmare" that this Brandon guy and this mother are based off of though. In that story, she was called Rose. I rewrote the plot to that story and it ends up pretty good. I plan on posting it up after his story. Sorry if this was a short chapter, by the way. GOSH! I had tears come tomy eyes, I felt like i was Eighteen when I wrote that because I was so into writing it!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Man, this has got me pumped! I want to write more and more! You can tell that I obviously and starting to finally feel better, lol. Anyway, enjoy the story please!**

* * *

A sad sigh escaped Krillin as he sat down on their bed with his head in his hands. It was now almost midnight and soon it would be tomorrow and yet another day without any sign of Maron. It tearing him to shreds inside to know that anything could be happening to someone who was just so precious to him. He was a man though, he had to not be the first to lose hope. He had to be there for his wife. If he lost hope, she would definitely lose hope.

"Here, I made you something to eat." Eighteen walked into the room with a plate filled with food.

Sitting down on the bed with Krillin right next to him, he took the plate from her. "Thanks, babe," he attempted to smile, but it was too easy to tell that he was faking it "looks good, as always."

"No problem." Eighteen replied.

There was a moment of awkward silence in the room. Neither of the two knew what to say to the other because they both felt the same. They both didn't want to let the others hopes down. Little did the other know, but they both were already feeling down. It wasn't like they planned on giving up on the search, though. Over their dead bodies would they give up!

Royce! It suddenly dawned on Eighteen. There was a chance that she could find their daughter again and everything would be okay again. But, how could she get Krillin to not follow her? It would seem kind of strange to just have some weird spurge of 'I wanna go to Royce!'.

Wait, she had it!

"Hey, Krillin," Eighteen began "I have a hunch..."

Krillin looked her in the eyes hopefully. "About Maron?"

"Yeah..." Eighteen continued "I think I'm going to go back to the city tonight."

"Want me to come, too?" Krillin offered.

"I'll do just fine alone, baby." Eighteen reassured him.

"You sure?" Krillin asked.

"Of course!" Eighteen replied. "I'm probably the thing that anyone would have to be afraid of."

"Yeah, you're right," Krillin agreed. "but if you need any help- call the home phone. Here, you can have my cell phone."

"Thanks," Eighteen smiled at Krillin "I love you."

Getting up, she kissed Krillin on the forehead lovingly. A shiver went up her spine that made her feel as if something bad might happen. Hopefully she was wrong. If this were really Brandon, he was just a human. He couldn't hurt her anymore.

As she walking towards the doorway, she felt a tug within her that tugged her back to Krillin. She felt like something was telling her that this might be their last peaceful meeting. She didn't understand that seeing as they were married and loved each other, but she still let her feelings get the best of her.

Walking back over to Krillin, she grabbed his plate of food from him and placed it on the floor.

"Hey-" Krillin began to protest.

"Shhh..." Eighteen said softly, pushing Krillin back onto his back.

Laying down on Krillin, her lips met with his in a passionate kiss. If this really was somehow going to be their last meeting, she wanted to remember one of the two most special in her life with a last kiss.

Her hand traveled it's way up to his hair, caressing it sweetly. She loved the way his hair felt and the way it looked. Heck, she loved everything about Krillin. He was such a wonderful man and she was lucky enough to have met him. There was no way this was their last _peaceful _meeting, was it? With the relationship they had, Eighteen was ninety nine percent sure she was just worried.

Pulling away from Krillin, she kissed him on the nose one last time before getting up.

"Where'd all that come from?" There was a naughty shine in Krillin's eyes.

Eighteen shrugged as she headed over towards the door again. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Krillin replied.

Heading out the doorway, she rushed down the stairs and out the door in no time. She hoped that this person was still at the place they named. Or heck, she hoped this wasn't made up and some sort of trap. She was at the mercy of this guy, though. He had their daughter.

The moon beautifully reflected on the water's surface. Squinting her eyes, she could tell that there were possibly stormy clouds roaming the night sky. Knowing her luck as of lately, it would probably rain.

Jumping up into the air, she blasted off towards the city with her hair blowing in her face. In no time at all, she was there. Everything was much more quiet than what it usually was at day time. That was what to be expected at night, though, seeing as the only thing open at this time of night was the bar. Most of those places closed at two, so she had two hours until all those stupid drunks came out and about.

Landing down onto the sidewalk, she was glad to know that there wasn't a person in sight. Sure, she could see some people partying in a nearby bar, but none of them had noticed her presence. How could those people like that stuff? The sight of them was so disgusting.

Looking up at the street sign, she realized she was not at Royce as she had already expected. Royce was a couple blocks down from where she currently was. A random sigh came from her as she began her walk.

Once she got there, she noticed that it was an alleyway. Odd...So this person wanted her to go into some dark place? That was like some old time scary movie for goodness sake! It was so original! Was he that tasteless?

"Excuse me, but what in the world is a young lady such as yourself doing out in such a bad area?" A man's voice sounded.

Jumping in shock, Eighteen turned around to find an old man sitting on a bench. It wasn't him, but gosh had he gave her a scare. Hopefully, he would leave her alone.

"Nothing that concerns you," Eighteen replied rudely "so if you don't mind, leave me alone."

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed..." The man got up and walked away, muttering something to himself that probably had some reference to Eighteen.

Good, she was rid of that nuisance. Now, back to what was important. She guessed she would just have to look in the alley. It wouldn't hurt, anyways. She was what anybody had to worry about.

Walking down it, a shiver traveled down her spine. It wasn't like she was afraid, it was just that she hated creepy places like this- especially at night!

There was a dumpster a few feet down from where Eighteen was. It always seemed that in placed like this that some monster hid behind it and came out from it and attacked the victim.

Bam! Suddenly, something fell over that had been stacked on the dumpster and onto the ground. What caused that?

Curiousity got the better of her. She had to see what had made that fall. Edging her way even closer to the dumpster, she wasn't shocked to find a man sitting against the wall. She could only make out his outline, but she could feel he was a man. Was it Brandon? It had to be! What were the chances that she would run into some guy on Royce?

She was unsure as to what she should say, but she had to say something at the very least. "Brandon?" She asked, keeping her distance from the man.

Without any sign that he had even registered her words, he slowly pushed his way up to his feet. Suddenly, a light flickered on. Obviously, he was holding a flashlight in his left hand. He pointed the light right in her face, causing her to involuntarily put her arm up to shield herself from the it.

"You out looking for trouble or somethin'?!" The man suddenly demanded.

He sounded like an old, drunken man. This wasn't Brandon. But then where was he? Had he lied?! How dare he!

"Sorry, I thought you were someone else." Eighteen apologized, turning around to head her way out.

"Hold your horses, sugar," the man continued "that don't mean I don't want your company!"

Eighteen ignored the man's words and instead still attempted to make her way out. Just as she had expected, though, she felt a gruff and callousy hand rap around her small arm, trying to jerk her around. This man was messing with the wrong girl!

"C'mon, stay..." The man tried to coax her into not leaving.

He wasn't a good man. She could feel the aura all over him. If it wasn't her, he'd find some other helpless girl. She knew how that felt...she could relate. There was no way she would allow some dirt bag to be roaming these streets and ruin some girls life.

"I'm busy," Eighteen growled lowly "leave me alone!"

"Don't be like that..." He pressed his body up against hers.

"I don't understand you men!" Eighteen raised her voice. It really had puzzled her as to how someone could be so cruel to another by doing something that painful to them. How could they live with themselves knowing they had hurt someone?

The man said nothing in response to her. All he did was try to push Eighteen up against the wall...to find that she wouldn't budge an inch. This man was about to get what he big time deserved.

"Would you like to know how your former victims have felt?" Eighteen continued "Hopeless? Useless? Weak?" With each word, she pushed him back; each push harder than the last.

"What's your problem?!" The guy demanded.

"Oh nothing," Eighteen replied "it's just that I find you type of men happen to be the lowest piece of existence on the face of this earth."

"I won't mess with you anymore, jeez!" The guy seemed to catch the idea that he wasn't going to get anywhere with his attempts.

"You won't stop, though," Eighteen shot back "and because of that, you're going to wish you never met me."

"You ain't that strong, hun." He sounded confident.

Deciding she would let her actions speak louder than her words, she took a step towards the man. As she did she so, she teleported out of sight.

"What the-?!"

The man was shut up by a punch in the back of the head. He fell to the ground in a heap, grabbing onto his head in absolute pain. Grunts escaped his mouth.

Eighteen pulled her leg back and thrusted it forward; right into the man's gut. She was holding back a lot, but she planned on ending this man's life. It wasn't like she was killing some innocent person. He was guilty and needed to be killed. He would probably never get caught by the law, just like Brandon. Once she found him, she would have his head as well.

Bending down, she grabbed the man by the hair. Now, what was the best way to kill him? She had never murdered someone before...How? Hmmm...This was more difficult that what she had thought. She wanted him to suffer.

"Now, why don't you answer this?" Eighteen suggested.

"A-anything! I'll do anything...if you just let me go!" The man sounded afraid for his life.

"Why on earth would you force yourself on someone? How can you go on with your life knowing you've damaged someone for the rest of theirs?" Eighteen questioned. She seriously wanted to know and it had always ate at her as to what went through a rapist's head when they commited such acts.

"T-they're pretty much asking for it!" The man answered her.

"How?"

"The way they dress, that's how!" The man shot back.

"That's not every case. I'm not wearing anything provocative, yet you still tried to attack me," Eighteen backfired "therefore that is just an excuse. I guess I won't get my answer. Ta-ta..."

Before he could say anything else, Eighteen pulled him up off the ground by the hair until they could see eye to eye. Raising her free hand up to chest level, she thrust it forward into his chest- right where his heart was located. Pulling her hand out, she smirked as his limp body fell to the ground. Who cared if they found him? Justice had been served.

It was clear that there was no Brandon around and that he had lied. How on earth would she ever become reunited with Maron? She was at Brandon's mercy! If only he would speak to her again in her mind...Or was it even him? Had she just imagined things after all?

Wiping the blood off her and onto his shirt, she jumped up in the air and blasted off back to the house. She did not plan on telling Krillin for two simple reasons. One, she felt it was unneeded- it wasn't like she had killed an innocent. Two, he would never understand unless he had actually been a victim himself. This would probably end up in the news and the Z-warriors would no doubt hear about it. In a way, it made her feel like a killer. She had to remind herself, though. She did what was right! He would've done to the next girl he caught alone.

Once she got to their house, she opened the door to find that the house was quite dark. The only light on was the kitchen. Everybody must have been in bed. Walking up the stairs without bothering to turn on a light, she headed to her room and entered it. There a body lying on it under the covers. No doubt it was...

No way! Krillin wasn't that tall! She could see the outline under the sheets were the person's feet were. What the heck was going on?!

Her heart began to pound. Forgetting to turn on the light, she ran over to the body. Whoever it was, the person's eyes were open and staring right back at her. "Where's my husband?!" She shouted.

"I'm right here babe!" The person replied calmly as they got up into a sitting position.

"Get out of my bed!!!" Eighteen demanded hysterically.

"It's okay, Eighteen!" Suddenly, the sound of the voice changed to that of Krillins.

Blinking her eyes a couple times, she realized it _was _Krillin. How the heck? What had just happened? She must have been hallucinating! What just happened was not possible!

"B-but...you..." Eighteen began.

"You're just sleep deprived baby...lay down with me and get some shut eye." He invited her to bed, smiling at her with his as usual dazzling shine to his eyes. Even when it was dark, she could still make out that shine.

A relieved sigh escaped Eighteen as she complied. He scooted over for her as she got under the covers next to him. She didn't care that she was in her clothes. She needed sleep as quickly as possible before she some other episode occur.

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**Disclaimer: Whoah...creepy :P Stay tuned for the next chapter! You know, my boyfriend does not read my stories anymore. He acts different than before. He has been making excuses constantly as to why he can't read a single chapter and it has been hurting me. At least you people enojy it though, lol. So yeah, this is getting good!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Oh my gosh! Thankyou, everyone, for reviewing while I was laid up in bed getting well! You don't know how much it means to me to know that people like my story! It made me happy even though I felt horrible, lol. Man, I am so pumped about this story! It has such a long way to go, but it'll be cool. Enjoy!**

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Yet another day and still no sign of Maron or Brandon. It was late in the afternoon, but Krillin and Eighteen were still holding up as best as they could. It was hard not to completely break down. Not only that, but they missed their daughter. How long would this last? Would they ever see their precious Maron again or would they never be reunited?

Eighteen had given up on the posters. Instead, she was going around questioning people about Maron. Just as she had guessed, the hottest thing on the streets was the murder she had commited last night. She hated thinking of it in that manner because it wasn't like she had just killed the man for absolutely no reason. Every time she had approached someone, they brought up 'oh did you hear about the murder last night? Maybe that has something to do with your daughter!'. It kind of irritated her because she knew exactly what had happened then.

Not only that, but this Brandon thing was bugging the crap out of her. After that night, she hadn't heard a word. Then again, it really could have just been her imagination playing tricks on her. It had definetely happened last night when she was heading off to bed. It had felt so real, but she was almost positive it had just been that- her imagination.

"I'm sorry, but no I haven't."

Eighteen sighed in dissapointment as yet another civilian answered her question. The person seemed to be in a rush and didn't seem to really care, which was the case with most of the people hanging around in this city. More than seventy percent were all for themselves and could care less if anyone died so long if it wasn't them.

Turning the corner, Eighteen came upon her mother's house, which to her shock had two police cars beside it and an ambulance. If it wasn't for the lack of being a parent to Eighteen as a child, she would have felt the urge to see what had happened. Although, she still was curious.

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal several men carefully carrying a gurney out the house. A person was lying on it that still appeared to be alive, but in agonizing pain, for they were grunting- her mother. Someone must have attacked her, it was obvious. Had some random stranger broke in? Or was it someone she knew?

Before her mother could see her, Eighteen turned around and went the other way. She didn't want to hear her mother's voice. In a way, her mother deserved this for all she done to her in the past and let others do. Now maybe she could know how it felt to be the one getting hurt. It may have seemed like Eighteen held a grudge; which she did in a way, but inside she didn't want anyone to go through the type of misery and pain she had went through as she had grew up.

Something suddenly tugged deep inside Eighteen. She felt the urge to turn back around and see her mother. What if this had something to do with Brandon? If it did, then it also meant it had something to do with her daughter.

Maron was what decided it- she would turn back around, but only for the sake of possibly finding out helpful information that could lead up to finding her. Begrudgingly, Eighteen rolled her eyes and turned back around, rushing towards the ambulance. Immediately, they all took notice of her presence and tried to their best to run her off.

"Excuse me, ma'am," the man said as Eighteen came to a halt "but you need to stay out of this."

Eighteen sighed in aggravation. "That's my mother, now if you will just _move!" _

Pushing the man to the ground, she ran towards her mother. As she approached her, another man tried to stop her, but to no avail. Eighteen simply pushed him to the ground along with three other men who came rushing at her to stop her.

Finally, she got to her mother. What Eighteen saw was definetely not what she had expected. Unlike the other day, her mother's lip was busted and a bloody spot was on her forehead as if someone had punched her. That wasn't even half of it, though. The only thing covering her mother's body was a blanket that the ambulance had placed on her. Well, she had a bra on and underwear, obviously, but nothing else. She probably had slept in them during the night and had been attacked. Eighteen was almost too afraid to look at what else had happened to her mother, but she had to see.

Grabbing the blanket, Eighteen pulled it down to reveal her mother's fairly shinged stomach. Either someone had burnt her with fire...or else they used ki. Was it Brandon? But how? If it was him, he would have just burnt her with fire because last she checked he didn't know how to use ki.

Not wanting to see any further, Eighteen covered her mother back up. She had her mother grunting when they had carried her out- she was still alive. For the time being, she was passed out probably due to the pain. Her mother didn't need just a doctor, she needed someone to heal her and she knew exactly who could do so.

Dende.

She would have to grab up Krillin and have him come as well. Hopefully, once her mother was healed, she could get some questions answered. It had just dawned on Eighteen that maybe this happened because of a drug deal. Ever since Eighteen had turned fourteen, her mother had struck rock bottom when she had met Brandon. He had introduced her to pills and every type of drug on the market. She could have owed money to someone and never paid up. There was no doubt in Eighteen's mind that her mother had not quit drugs. What she had been addicted to in the past was too strong and addictive for someone to stop.

Before any of the people could get up and try to stop her again, she picked up her mother and threw her over her shoulder. Jumping up in the air, she flew off as fast as she could over to the tower. It took no time for Eighteen to make it back over to Kame house.

Opening the door, she rushed inside and placed her mother on the couch. Krillin, who was in the kitchen, along with Master Roshi, looked up curiously from their food to see who it was.

"Back so soon?" Krillin asked.

"Can you please come with me to the lookout?" Eighteen ignored what he had said. "It's an emergency."

"Uhm sure," Krillin answered "but what's the emergency?"

"This." Eighteen pointed at the couch.

Krillin and Roshi appeared confused. "Huh?" They both asked in unision.

"Get off your lumps and maybe you'll know what I am talking about!" Eighteen almost snarled.

The two got up and walked over to her mother. They were at a loss as to who this was and why this person was such an emergency. It was not like Eighteen to pick randomly injured people off the streets.

"What happened to her?" Roshi asked.

"I don't know," Eighteen crossed her arms "but once Dende heals her, hopefully we will found out."

"Do you even know who she is?" It was Krillin's turn now.

"Yes, she is my mother." Eighteen replied.

There was a moment of silence. Krillin had never met her mother before and niether had Roshi. As far as they had been concerned, her mother had been long gone from this world with the way Eighteen never spoke of her.

Eighteen broke the silence. "Please come with me, Krillin," she continued "I think that she might be able to help us find Maron."

"How?" Krillin was confused.

"It's too long to stay here and explain," Eighteen didn't want to go into the story "but come with me."

Without another word, Eighteen grabbed up her mother and carried her out the door with Krillin right behind her. They both jumped up in the air and took off. Allowing Krillin to pass her so he could lead the way, Eighteen just hoped and prayed that her mother had the answers that she was looking for.

After a few minutes of flying, they finally got there. Landing on the tile swiftly, it took them no time to spot Dende and . The two _had _been staring off into the distance until they came landing on the lookout. They both appeared shocked to find the two of them coming up here without anyone else. Rushing over to them, Dende spoke first.

"Hey Krillin, what's up?" He smiled friendly at Krillin.

"A whole bunch of mess, bro," Krillin smiled right back "we have an emergency."

Krillin pointed at Eighteen's mother, whom Eighteen still happened to be holding onto. Dende appeared confused. He hadn't ever seen this person up here on the lookout before with the Z-gang. Maybe it was just a random civilian?

"You want me to heal her?" Dende guessed.

"You think you could?" Krillin asked politely.

"Sure, set her down and I'll get to it." Dende agreed, wanting to be as helpful to one of his friends as possible.

Eighteen sat down her mother on the tile floor. Dende walked over to her and raised his hands over her midsection. Usually, a light would come from his hands, but for some odd reason, not a thing happened. When a few more awkward seconds passed, a sweatdrop rolled off Dende's cheek.

"What's the matter?" Eighteen asked.

"Uhm, well...you see," Dende rubbed the back of his head "I can only heal those with a good heart...and this lady doesn't meet the criteria. Her heart is full of trash."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Eighteen exclaimed. "So you're telling me you won't heal her?!"

"It's not that I won't...I would if I could, but..." Dende seemed afraid of the wrath of Eighteen.

"Do you think Korin would have any senzu beans left?" Krillin asked.

"Probably- maybe you should go ask him for some." Dende replied.

"I'll be right back babe!" Krillin ran off the tower and dove downward towards Korin's place.

So there wouldn't be any awkward silence like there usually was, Dende attempted to make conversation with Eighteen.

"So, who is this, anyway?' He asked.

"My mother," Eighteen answered "it's obvious someone attacked her last night."

Dende didn't really know what else to say but "oh..."

They never said anything else until Krillin came back up a few minutes later with his hand balled in a fist. Obviously, he was holding a senzu bean in it. He ran back over to them and came to a halt in front of her mother.

Bending down, Krillin opened her mother's mouth and poked the senzu bean in. Like the usual when someone eats a senzu bean, her mother's eyes slowly blinked open. Her eyes scanned the area and in alarm, her mother jerked up into a sitting position.

"W-where am I?!" She demanded.

Her mother's head jerked from side to side as she looked across the area to check her surroundings. She didn't recognize any of this! Her sights first fell upon Dende. A shriek came from her.

"Oh my God!!! An alien!" She scooted back from Dende.

Dende tried to calm her down. "Nobody is going to hurt you," he pointed to Eighteen "she brought you here."

Turning her sights to her daughter, she seemed to calm down. The look of anxiety and shock on her face dissapeared and instead was replaced with a scowl. She probably didn't want to see Eighteen anymore after their last encounter.

"I thought I made it pretty clear I didn't want to see you again," it seemed to slip her mother's mind that Eighteen had obviously rescued her "so why am I here? With you? What is this place, even?!"

Eighteen rolled her eyes. "Instead of getting so angry, I think you should be on your knees thanking me."

"Why should I thank you?" Her mother demanded "I would have much rathered been taken to the hospital!"

"And been in there for how long? Weeks?" Eighteen asked.

"Yes!" Her mother snarled.

"Well, too bad," Eighteen snarled right back "I need you to answer some questions for me and then I will take you right back to that dump of yours that you call home."

"I am not answering anything," her mother shot back stubbornly "so take me home, you're just wasting your time."

"Please, ma'am!" Krillin piped in "This has to do with our daughter!"

Her mother turned her head towards Krillin. She looked taken aback. "This is your husband? He's patheticly short!"

"Hey!" Krillin sounded insulted.

"You'll just have stay with my husband and I if you persist on being such a mule." Eighteen said.

"You can't make me do anything!" Her mother snapped back.

"If you really want to believe that, then go ahead."

"Oh don't worry, it's a _fact _you can't force me to do something I don't want to do." No wonder where Eighteen got her pride from.

Eighteen sighed. Her mother should have already known by now that she could hurt her from the other day; their little reunion. Although, she refused to resort to physically beating the information out of her mother. She would just inforce that her mother stay at Kame house until she open up.

Looking at Dende, she actually graced him with words. "Thanks for your help."

Not even informing Krillin that they were leaving, Eighteen grabbed her mother up and rushed over to the edge of the tower and jumped down into the sky. Not being used to being so high in the sky, her mother shrieked in fear. Instead of beating on Eighteen to let her down, she clung onto her for dear life. Krillin reluctantly followed suit of them as he waved goodbye to Dende.

"Hey, wait up guys!" Krillin exclaimed, jumping down from the tower and blasting off after Eighteen and her mother.

Slowing down a little so Krillin could catch up, she laughed at her mother. There was no reason to be afraid. It wasn't like she would drop her. In fact, her mother was so frightened that she couldn't utter a word.

"I am taking her to Kame house," Eighteen informed Krillin "until she decides that she can answer my questions, this is her new home."

"You really think she can be of that much help?" Krillin sounded confused. "Anyone could have done that to her."

"Yeah, but my instincts tell me she knows something of use to us," Eighteen replied "so let's go now."

Krillin nodded as he followed Eighteen toward Kame house. Once they got there and landed, her mother jumped off her. She was very shaky, probably because she had been so terrified from being so high in the sky.

Still not saying anything to them, her mother looked around the island, her eyes widening in realization. There was no way she could get off this place! She was trapped! It would be impossible to swim across the ocean and find her way back home.

"You live here?" Her mother's voice was just as shaky as her hands.

Eighteen nodded. "Yes," she continued "and as you can see, you won't be leaving any time soon. So unless you agree to answering a couple of these questions I have for you, you're going to get real aquainted with the family."

"Fine then," her mother finally loosened up "I'll answer exactly what you asked for- a couple."

"Does getting to know your family scare you badly?" Eighteen asked.

"No," her mother replied "I just want to go to home!"

"Alright then, let's this get started." Eighteen declared.

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**Disclaimer: Hey guys, sorry for the wait. I am finally all well now...so yeah. This was short, maybe too rushed. I finished this part at school and it was awkward doing so because I type pretty fast. Thankyou so much for the reviews- it has made me really happy! The next chapter might reveal something about Maron...finally! **

**Love,**

**Jennifer**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Hello again. I have nothing to say except- on with the story!**

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After finally entering Kame house, the trio had sat down at the table to discuss what had happened. Just when they were about to begin, though, Roshi barged in the room.

"This is your mother?!" Roshi sounded befuddled "I thought she looked that ugly because of her being all hurt!"

Her mother jumped up from the table. "Excuse me?" She sounded very insulted.

If it weren't for her having to rely on her mother for answers, she would have had no problem with sharing as to why her mother looked so ragged. She decided she would just stay quiet for a while more.

"Eheh, nothing..." Roshi tried to get himself out of it.

"That's what I thought," her mother sat back down "say another word about me and you'll be sorry."

"I guess she really is your mother." Roshi said to Eighteen, referring to her attitude.

"Can we please get on with this?" Eighteen sighed.

"Sure," her mother replied "ask away."

"What exactly happened last night?" Eighteen asked.

"Well," her mother sighed "I was heading to bed, but someone knocked on the door. So, I put on my bathrobe and went to see who it was."

"And who was it?" Eighteen questioned.

Her mother was about to speak, but stopped. It looked like she was thinking of how to word what she had to say correctly. Finally, she spoke after awhile.

"It was Brandon," her mother paused "he had come to get some money I owed him. I didn't have it, so..."

Eighteen expected as much. "I'm not surprised."

"You know this guy?" Krillin asked.

"Yeah, he played a big part of my childhood I guess you could say," Eighteen replied briefly "but anyway, anything else happen?"

"He spoke to me about you," her mother began.

"And?" She raised an eyebrow curiously.

"He said to tell you to meet him at the shut down trailer park later tonight," Her mother sighed. "you know, Eureka Gardens?"

"How does he even know we're communicating with each other again?" Eighteen was a bit confused "The last time I seen him. he was well aware I didn't want a thing to do with you."

"I guess he's been watching us," Her mother replied. "but either way, he said to meet him there alone."

"You've got to be kidding me! That's the oldest trick in the book!" Krillin exclaimed. "There's no way I'm letting you go off alone without someone to back you up!"

"Krillin, this guy isn't that strong. I could kill him with a flick of my pinky if I wanted to," Eighteen assured him "besides, this is for Maron. I don't care what I am risking as long as I get her back."

"You're right..." Krillin agreed.

"You know, Brandon isn't the same guy we used to know," her mother warned "he's much more aggressive...not to mention, he looked different."

"He's always been aggresive, you just never seemed to notice because you were too into lala land over him." Eighteen commented.

"Don't start that crap again, Rose..." Her mother sighed.

"I don't appreciate you referring to me by that name." Eighteen snarled.

"Then what else do you expect me to call you?" Her mother snapped back.

"How about Eighteen?" Eighteen replied.

"Where'd you get that from?" Her mother made a face.

"Does it matter? I want to be called that." Eighteen made a point.

"Fine then, _Eighteen!" _Her mother growled.

"Thank you," Eighteen changed the subject "so it's decided. I am going to go settle the score with him and find out what he's done to Maron."

Eighteen didn't feel like mentioning that Brandon had already before told her to meet him somewhere. Then again, it was only a voice in her head. Her mind could have been playing tricks on her. This time was different though.

"Can you take me home now?" Her mother asked, sounding impatient.

"Later, maybe," Eighteen blew her off.

"Maybe?!" Her mother exclaimed "You said you'd take me home after you got what you wanted!"

"Shut up," Eighteen rolled her eyes. "you're annoying me."

"Shouldn't you be a bit more polite, Eighteen?" Krillin whispered in Eighteen's ear. "After all, that's your mother."

"Personally, I think I was being pretty polite," Eighteen replied "usually it's a lot worse than this."

* * *

The sun had just begun to set as Eighteen prepared herself to leave. She decided that she would get to the place as quickly as she could. If he wasn't there yet, she would just wait it out.

Her mother was still residing in their house for the time being. Of course, it was a forced sort of thing. Eighteen for some odd reason wouldn't budge and take her mother back home. It was a good thing they had placed her in another room or she would be bugging her right now with wanting to leave.

"Please be careful, babe." Krillin said.

"I will," Eighteen assured him "he won't hurt me. He's far too weak."

Bending down, she kissed Krillin on the lips briefly. With that, she walked out the door and took off into the darkening sky. It wouldn't take her very long to find this shut down trailer park. After all, this had been where her brother had lived back when they were humans. They hadn't lived with each other during that time in their life, strangely it would seem. It was way too complicated to explain.

Soon enough, Eighteen found the place. Landing, she took notice of the it;s surroundings. It was much worse than before. Trailers were boarded up and there were even some trailers that had big holes in them. It was awful. Why had this place shut down? It had been one of the best trailer parks on this side of town.

Brandon could be anywhere. Why couldn't he have been more specific than this? This was so annoying. She'd have to wonder the whole trailer park now.

Walking past each trailer, memories flashed inside her head. They were the most happiest of her past. She never had been happy at home, but when she came to this place to be reunited with her brother she had seemed to forget about everything that went on at the house.

Finally, she past her brother's trailer. It wasn't as boarded up. Curiosity got the better of her. She walked over to the trailer and opened the door with ease. It was dark as could be. It was a good thing she had decided to come this early because there was still a little bit of light outside. She wandered what had happened to her brother's parents. Where were they now? Were they dead? Or were they alive?

Eighteen could vividly remember how bad she had wanted to live with her brother back then. His parents were so nice and kind. They were the exact opposite of her mother and her boyfriend. Someone had to have a good life though and she had rathered it been him than her. It would have killed her to see her brother get the same treatment she got at home.

She could also remember when her mother had revealed to her who her real father was. It had just so happened to be her brother's father as well. Usually, it was the opposite im most cases, but this was an unusual event. It had just so happened that her father had supposedly raped her mother and she had conceived both Eighteen and her brother. Her mother didn't want her brother so she had given him to her father and his soon to be wife. Too bad she didn't want to get rid of Eighteen as well.

As Eighteen walked in the trailer, she stepped on something. Picking it up and holding it up to the light where the door was open, she was able to see. It was a picture frame of her brother and his parents back when he was six or so. They looked so happy.

Boy how she missed her brother. Something told her that her brother was still somewhere out there. He just had to be.

The sun finally was totally hidden. It was pitch black and no longer could Eighteen see to relive any of her memories of the past. She sighed and sat down against the wall.

Hours began to pass. Not a single sign of Brandon. Had he lied again? Maybe she just had to look around a bit, she decided. This would have been the place that she would have most expected him to be at, though. After all, back when she lived with her mother and him, he had caught her over here when she wasn't allowed to be. He knew how sacred this place had been to her.

Another memory flashed through her mind. It was of her brother, his friends, and her. They had met up at the playground here and made up this really cool dance. It was called the Melbourne shuffle. Actually, they hadn't made it up, but due to it being so unknown in the US, they could've claimed they had and gotten away with it. She hadn't been very good at it herself, but her brother had been a real pro.

Deciding that sitting here wouldn't do her any good, she got up to her feet and walked out the trailer, shutting the door behind her. The moonlight gave off enough light for her to see the pavement and where she was going luckily. Slowly, she followed the road.

"And where might you be going?"

Eighteen jumped in shock at the sudden voice. Twisting around to see who it was, she saw noone.

"I'm up here, silly."

Eighteen jerked her head up and immediately noticed a very muscular man standing on a tree branch. He was leaning against the trunk like a model. You couldn't make out his facial features, but you could tell he had dark hair.

"Brandon?" Eighteen guessed.

"In the flesh," he smiled, jumping off the tree and landing perfectly in front of her "so, you like the place I chose for this little reunion of ours?"

"Sure," Eighteen went straight to the point "so where's Maron?"

"We'll get to that later." He blew her off.

"You have my daughter! Now tell me where she is before I rip your head off! I'm not here to play games!" Eighteen snarled.

"Whoah, whoah," he laughed a little "calm down for a second."

"Tell me where she is and I'll calm down!" Eighteen snapped again.

"Look, I want to make a bet with you." He began.

"I'm not making any bets with you," Eighteen declared "just give me back my daughter!"

"It's the only way you're going to get her back." Brandon knew he caught her attention.

"What do you mean?" Eighteen asked.

"You didn't think I'd just hand her back to you, now did you?" Brandon replied.

Eighteen was silent.

"Now anyway, let's make a deal," he announced "if you can land a punch on me, I'll tell you where your daughter is, _but, _if I land a punch, you'll do whatever I want."

"Are you sure you want to put yourself in that much danger?" Eighteen sounded mighty confident in her abilities.

"Sure," he smiled "I love a good challenge."

"This'll not take too long, then." Eighteen said.

"Now remember, there are penalties to this game," he explained "for example. If you happen to do anything beside using your fist, I get to do whatever I please as well."

"Fine with me," Eighteen replied.

Brandon backed away a couple feet. For someone that was just a human he sure seemed too confident. He had helped reconstruct Eighteen- he knew how strong she was! How could he even think that he could possibly land a punch on her?!

"Three, two, one..." he said "GO!"

Eighteen rushed forward at Brandon, raising her fist up. Once she got up close to him, she came to an abrupt stop and then attempted to thrust it into Brandon's cheek. Shockingly, he disappeared from where he had previously been standing. Frantically, Eighteen twisted around to look for Brandon, but found not a soul.

Above! She looked up and saw Brandon, who was hovering up in the air.

"H-how?!" Eighteen stuttered.

"Shocked, aren't you?" He sounded proud.

Suddenly, he teleported back down to ground level in front of Eighteen. He attempted to thrust his fist into her face, but she barely managed to dodge it. Teleporting, she reappeared a few feet away from him.

"How did you figure it out?!" Eighteen demanded.

"Guess," he replied.

"Just tell me!" Eighteen exclaimed.

"I turned myself into a cyborg," he answered "one similar to your structure, but much, much, much stronger."

"No way..." Eighteen refused to believe he could be stronger than her.

"Just find out for yourself!" He welcomed her.

"I will!" Eighteen dashed towards him again.

Releasing a flurry of punches, Brandon dodged them all with ease. He didn't even look like he was trying.

"Are you done yet?" He asked rudely.

No! This just wasn't possible! Eighteen desperately started to kick at Brandon until she successfully landed a kick, causing Brandon to fall out from under his feet and onto the ground.

He got back up to his feet. "You cheated," he said "not a smart idea."

He teleported again and reappeared behind Eighteen. He wrapped his arm around her head and grabbed her body close to his; slamming his knee into her back. Letting go of her, she fell onto the ground, landing on her knees. Once again, he teleported again, but this time in front of her. He thrusted his leg into her gut, causing her to cough up blood.

"Now you have to do what I want," he said, crossing his arms.

Eighteen replied with a cough, followed by a couple drops of blood splattering onto the hard granite. She absolutely refused to let him pumble her like this! Slowly, she began to get back up to her feet.

"Acting tough, now are we?" He sounded humored.

Rolling her eyes, she ignored his sarcasm. He was much more cocky than back when he was her supposed 'step father'. Refusing to be beaten, she dashed towards him again, but this time teleporting behind him and firing a quick ki blast at his back. Just when she thought she had hit him, he teleported on her and ended up behind her with a ki blast twice as big as hers. Before she could respond, he fired it right into her back, causing her to fly forward until she used her ki to stop herself from flying back anymore. Almost all the back of her shirt had been burnt away, revealing her singed back.

Flashing before her eyes, Brandon appeared in front of her with his fists balled up together above his head. With little force, Brandon thrusted them down upon her head, causing her to slam onto the ground.

"I would stay down if I were you," He sounded serious for the first time. "unless you want to eat more dirt."

Eighteen couldn't get back up. She was in way too much pain. A grunt escaped her lips.

"So anyway, as I was saying," he began "you have to do whatever I want. And you know what that might happen to be?"

When Eighteen gave no reply, he sighed. "I guess you'll just figure it out when you get there."

He then walked over to Eighteen. Bending down, he picked her up the by the hair. Instead of the usual, Eighteen didn't go on the defensive. Her body ached very tremendously thanks to those few blows he had landed on her. Placing his hand on her shoulder, the two suddenly disappeared out of nowhere...but to where?

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**Disclaimer: Mhm, mhm, mhm! I enjoyed writing this story a lot! Yay! No more school after this week, then I can write all I want with no more stress! -dances around- I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did writing it! **

**Oh and there really is a Melbourne shuffle. I want you to look it up on youtube. Just type in basscaptivesfrancis and go to his channel. Watch all his vids and tell me he don't make that dance wicked sweet! That is how Seventeen danced back when he was a human. I imagine him looking similar to the guy too because the guy's hair is growing out like Seventeen's (plus he is hot like Seventeen!). So yeah, I hope I made a good connection.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Hi guys, I am back. Please enjoy...**

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The environment had suddenly changed from solid ground to that of _no _ground whatsoever. Eighteen could feel herself falling through the air. Things were going so fast that she couldn't even take note of where she really was. Before she could stop herself, she felt her body slam onto a dumpster. Pain throbbed in her now newly formed injuries and her shinged back.

Writhing in agony, Eighteen rolled off the dumpster and right onto the hard granite. "Uhn..." she grunted, scrunching her eyes.

Before he touched ground she knew she just _had _to get up! She couldn't let him get the upperhand again or she'd be toast- literally! Using shear will power, she forced herself back up to her feet. Glancing around the area, she took note that she was in an alleyway. Thank goodness that it was fairly well lit or she wouldn't have been able to see Brandon approaching the ground.

Something caught her eyes- a sign on the building next to them. It read 'South city genetics research lab'. Could this have anything to do with Brandon?

"Any specific reason for the location?" Eighteen asked once he landed.

He smiled at her. He was fully in the light now and you could finally make out his facial appearence. He was very attractive. "Does there have to be a reason?"

"No," Eighteen replied.

"So," he changed the subject "missed me much?"

"Tch," Eighteen rolled her eyes.

"I'm guessing that's a no, correct?" Brandon asked.

"Duh," she snapped. "now where's Maron?!"

"You've forgotten that quickly?" He questioned "You lost the bet."

Eighteen didn't know how to respond any other way. "You can't possibly be serious!"

"I am a man of my word," he replied "but, the thing is, are you a woman of _your_ word?"

When Eighteen didn't respond, he spoke again. "I guess not," he shrugged "so this must mean I will have to force you to do what I want."

After all this time of searching for Maron- this was how it would end! Just that- she lost a bet! There was no way she would let Brandon get away with not telling her where Maron was! Gritting her teeth and balling her hands into fists out of frustration, she finally said something.

"What do you even want with me?!" She snarled. "You have no use for me now!"

"How can you be so certain when I am the one who reconstructed you?" He said. "After all, I know every inch of your body, inside and out."

"Just tell me where she is!!" Eighteen shouted. "I don't care about how you reconstructed me! It doesn't matter anymore!"

"I should've known you'd be this stubborn," he sighed.

"So you're just not going to tell me?!" Eighteen demanded. "I lost a bet and that's the end of it?!"

"Pretty much," he replied. "I'm really sorry that it had to turn out that way for you, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles."

Eighteen growled in rage. Kicking up into the sky, she disappeared out of nowhere. Brandon seemed to remain calm because all he did was cross his arms and smile.

"Playing dirty, now are we?" He commented.

Suddenly, Eighteen reappeared above Brandon's head; her hands balled up into a fist together above her own head. She came swooping down and attempted to slam her fists into his head, but he twisted around right before she landed her attack and slammed his own fist right into her gut. Before she could get herself together, he kicked her feet out from under her. Right as her feet went up from under her, he grabbed her by the foot and began to swing her around. Purposely, he let go of her where she could slam into the pavement instead of a building.

Regaining herself, she jumped back up immediately. If it wasn't for Maron fueling her onward, she would have been beaten way earlier. Kicking off, she flew towards Brandon. She could do this! All she had to do was picture Maron- scared for her life, waiting on her mommy and daddy to come to her rescue and that was enough to give her hope. She could do anything as long as she knew Maron needed her.

Right as Eighteen got close enough to Brandon she began to send a flurry of punches and kicks at Brandon. Just as anyone would have guessed, he dodged them all with ease.

"You done yet?" He said it just to get her more going.

"No!" Eighteen emphasized the word.

Unexpectantly, Eighteen put her hands together and fired a pink ki blast right at Brandon's midsection. He flew back until he forced himself from doing so. He regained his composure immediately.

"Great job," he clapped sarcastically. "you finally got me."

Eighteen took a few deep breathes. She was getting a little worn out.

"So, when do you think I should have a turn?" He asked.

"I never said you couldn't," Eighteen replied.

"So much for an attempt at being polite." Brandon sighed.

"What do you mean?" Eighteen raised an eyebrow.

"You know, usually it's ladies first," Brandon said. "but it's my turn now."

Just as she had expected, Brandon came blasting off towards her. Finally not using any teleportation, he raised hjis leg up and slammed it into her arm. Pain surged through her. Backing away, he watched her fall to the ground on her knees, grabbing at her arm.

"Did I break it?" He asked sarcastically. "Whoops."

"Uhn..." She closed her eyes as she tried to will away the pain.

She had to get back up! It couldn't end this way- her never seeing her daughter again all because of some ridiculous bet! She could see it...Maron- in some dark, weary, unknown place crying out for help. She refused to leave her daughter in that position! Slowly, Eighteen managed to pull it together and get back up on her shaky legs.

"You're pathetic," he insulted. "really, you are."

"Y- you're the one who's pathetic..." Eighteen muttered, still holding onto her arm.

"Oh really?" He raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I can't tell."

Suddenly, Eighteen felt a familiar arm wrap around half her neck. Right as she began to turn her head around to see who it was, she felt a sharp needle pierce the skin of her neck. She could feel whatever that was inside the needle begin to dispurse it's liquids into her body. It felt disgustingly cold as it passed through her veins.

Her senses began to fade away. She could feel her body fall into whoever it was arms as they began to drag her.

"Open the door for me, please." She could recognize that voice from anywhere! But how could it be possible? Gero- he was dead!

Everything was fading away into a dark abyss. She could kind of make out a ceiling. They obviously had brought her into some room. But what room exactly?

Right as Eighteen's vision began to go totally out, she heard another recognizable. You could easily guess whose it was.

"Mommy!!!"

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Meanwhile, back at Kame house, things were going just fine. Well, if you just tried to forget about Eighteen's mother's presence anyway.

"Turn that racket off!!" Eighteen's mother shrieked at the top of her lungs as she entered the room.

Krillin and Master Roshi almost jumped out their skin. The two had been listening to more techno. Sure, it seemed odd for them to be doing so with such awful conditions- Eighteen risking it by being out so late, Maron being gone and all, but they were trying to brighten their spirits. Both of them, mostly Krillin though, were in high hopes of having Maron back in their arms again. Dancing was the best way to shove his worrying to the back of his mind.

Her mother put just as much fear into their hearts as Eighteen herself, so they did as she commanded and turned off the stereo.

"Sorry," Krillin attempted at being polite. He wanted her mother to like him. "were you trying to sleep or something?"

"No," she replied rudely "but you know if you would just take me home you won't have to listen to my complaining anymore, right?"

"I think Eighteen wants you to stay here." Krillin guessed.

"She has no use for me now, though," she pointed out "I don't see any point in being here any longer."

"You know," Roshi spoke up bravely. "maybe Eighteen wants you to meet Maron?"

"Who is that?" She obviously didn't care.

"Our child, of course," Krillin answered for her. "you'll love her when you get to meet her. She's really sweet."

"I don't want to meet her." She made a bold statement.

Krillin was very taken aback. "W-why? That's your granddaughter we're talking about! Your own flesh and-"

"I don't care," she stated. "I never thought Rose was of any importance, so why would I suddenly find her daughter to be of any?"

Krillin's jaw dropped in awe. What was wrong with this lady? Was she nuts or something? How could she be so cold? He didn't know how to reply in any other way but to sound aggravated.

"How can you be that cold?!" Krillin exclaimed.

"Well, if you must know," she began. "I never wanted Rose to begin with."

"What do you mean?" Krillin asked.

"She was forced on me," she replied. "she had never even crossed my mind."

"That's not forced," Krillin seemed confused. "it had never crossed Eighteen and I's mind to have a baby, but it still happened."

"That's not what I mean," she sighed in frustration.

Krillin seemed to catch the drift. "Oh..." he understood. "but that that isn't her fault! She didn't _ask _to be born! So why take it out on her?!"

"We're drifting off into an area I wouldn't like to touch up on," she stated, crossing her arms. "so, since there is no longer any point in me being here, why don't you just go ahead and take me home?"

"Fine then," Krillin sighed in defeat. "You know what? Since you don't want to be here, then go. I'm not stopping you- the door is right over there." He pointed.

"You're asking me to _swim _across the ocean?" She sounded taken aback. "That's impossible!"

"You're the one who wants to leave." Krillin made a point.

"Tch, forget it!" She snarled, twisting back around and heading up the stairs. "I'll just go back to bed!"

Once she finally had left the room, Roshi spoke up again. He seemed pretty shocked that her mother was so apathetic towards her own daughter- not to mention her own granddaughter who she had never even met before. "No wonder why Eighteen never talked about her past," he continued. "that lady is a witch!"

"Yeah..." Krillin sighed sadly.

Eighteen's mother had caused the worry to return; thanks to her having them turn off the music. He hadn't heard a word yet from Eighteen. Then again, the clock had just struck midnight. Not to mention, her mother had never given them a specific time that this Brandon guy had wanted to meet Eighteen. For all they knew he would show up right before the crack of dawn.

"How 'bout I make us some strawberry daikaries?" Roshi probably could tell that Krillin was feeling down again. "Probably would do us both some good."

"No thanks..." Krillin plopped down on the couch.

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**Disclaimer: Thanks for the reviews, guys. My boyfriend is being good again and reading this story- he LOVES it! I told him he would! I don't know how long it'll take to update this story, but I am not giving up. Oh and sorry for making this a little shorter than most chapters.**

**Love,**

**Jenny**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I feel passionate. I know, I sound odd.**

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"Mommy!" Maron shouted, desperately awaiting for Eighteen to try to rescue her.

Eighteen had awoken only a few minutes ago and she was still coming off whatever had been injected into her body. Her sight was very blurry and her head was groggy. She lay on a hard metal table.

"Please get up!" Maron pleaded.

It was a struggle just to keep her eyes open so there was no way she could get up. She turned her head to the side and could make out her daughter slightly. It appeared that she was in some mechanic chair with weird little wires surrounding her.

"M-maron..." Eighteen murmured, fighting the urge to close her eyes.

"Mommy," Maron said again. "what's wrong? Why won't you get up?!"

She had to get up...She went this far and she wasn't going to stop now when she had a chance to save her daughter. Maron needed her, she couldn't let her down.

With all the strength in her, Eighteen slowly forced herself up. Part of her told her to just lay back down and wait for the drug to ease off, but she had to force that part of her to the side. Maron was more important than her. Maron's needs came first.

"Mommy!" Maron sounded happy as could be. "You're alright!!"

A faint smile formed on Eighteen's face. It was good to get to hear her daughter again. She thought she would never see her again, but yet here she was.

"Awake so fast?" Brandon suddenly entered the room.

Before Brandon could get a chance to get to Maron first, Eighteen unstably walked over to Maron and grabbed her in a hug. It felt good to finally be able to hold her again after so long. She could feel the wires that she had seen earlier attached to her body. What in the world was Brandon trying to do?

"Who said you could touch the patient?" Brandon asked as he walked up behind Eighteen.

She could feel Maron shiver under her grasp. "Get the mean man to go away mommy!!" Maron pleaded. What had he done to her to cause her to be so afraid? She'd kill him!

"What have you been doing to her?!" Eighteen demanded angrily. How dare he lay his hands on her daughter!

Without any warning whatsoever, Brandon grabbed Eighteen by the hair and jerked her off Maron and onto the hard tiled floor. He stepped over Eighteen and grabbed a tubed wire. A needle was at the end of the tube. He stuck it in Maron's arm and put tape around it so it wouldn't come out.

"Ow!!!" Maron started to cry in pain.

That was it! She couldn't stand hearing her daughter cry! The audacity of this creep! He was even worse than when she was forced to live with him and her mother!

"Leave her alone!!" Eighteen shrieked, stumbling as she tried to get back up to her feet.

Brandon twisted around with a hard look planted on his handsome face. "You lost out bet," he sounded cold as ice. "therefore you have no right to tell me what to do with your daughter. She is mine now."

Her blood was boiling even more with anger at his words. She would never be his! He might've been able to steal _her _childhood, but he most certainly would never steal Maron's! Finally, she got her balance as she got on her feet.

She couldn't think of any other way to get Maron back than to use her fists, although it had proved useless so far. Brandon had exceeded her strength tremendously. Still, she had to try. There was still hope! Raising her fist, she attempted to thrust it into his cheek, but he simply moved to the side.

"Don't start this again," he sighed. "it does no good. Haven't you figured that out by now?"

Eighteen refused to listen to him. Instead, she pulled same fist back and then attempted to thrust it into his opposite cheek. Once again, he moved to the other side skillfully. He flashed her an 'I'm not playing around' look.

"This is getting really boring," he insulted. "so let's end this."

Brandon reached out and grabbed her by arms with ease. In desperation for him to let go, Eighteen attempted to knee him in the gut, but he raised his in timing with hers to block her attack. Suddenly, he threw her towards the metal table and caused her back to slam into it.

"Uhn!" She grunted in pain. Now not only did she had a broken arm from earlier, but now she had an aching back.

She slid to the ground and onto her bottom.

"Mommy!" Maron exclaimed hysterically. "Leave her alone you bully!!"

"Shut up!" Brandon twisted back around and snapped in Maron's face.

Fearfully, Maron shut up. He must have really been treating her badly during the time Eighteen had been looking for her.

"Hey, hey," a new familiar voice entered the room. "quit the violence. We don't want to destroy anything here."

Eighteen looked over and was shocked to find Gero. What was he doing here?! How?! He was killed by Seventeen! Unless...

"Sorry, sir," Brandon apologized, lowering his voice.

Gero seemed to notice Eighteen's surprise. "Shocked to see me again, eh?" He seemed satisfied to know she was.

"How?" Was all Eighteen could manage to sputter out.

"A little thing called the dragon balls," Gero replied as he walked closer to them all.

That day! The day that they had taken Maron to school and the clouds suddenly shown up! The day Vegeta had been beaten up so badly! It had been Brandon!

"Thanks to I." Brandon put in proudly.

"Yes, if it wasn't for Brandon, I'd still be in Hell." Gero agreed.

"Why do you people want my daughter?" Eighteen asked. "She's just a little girl!"

"You raise a good question," Gero began. "although I don't think it's any of your business."

"Any of my _business?!" _Eighteen sounded blown away. Her motherly claws were about to be unleashed upon Gero. "This is my daughter we're talking about! My own flesh and blood!"

"Can't you manage to keep your voice down?" Gero complained. "You're hurting my ears."

"Screw your ears!" Eighteen snapped. "I'll yell as loud as need be!"

Eighteen slowly got back up to her feet again. It was really hard to with this broken arm of hers.

"Do as he says," Brandon put it. "or else."

"Tch," Eighteen rolled her eyes. If it wasn't for the fact that he could harm Maron, she would have kept on yelling. "tell me then. What the hell have you been doing to my daughter?"

""Like I said," Gero repeated. "it's none of your business."

"If you won't tell me, then I'll make you!!" Eighteen suddenly teleported behind Gero.

Quickly, Gero twisted around as if he had already been expecting her attack. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small remote looking object. He pressed a button on it and Eighteen stiffened up and fell to the ground in a heap.

"Mommy!!" Maron cried out again.

"I said shut up!" Brandon turned back around and slapped Maron lightly in the face.

Thanks to Eighteen not being able to move, she didn't see Brandon slap her, but she could hear the force of it. She knew he had laid his hands on her and she couldn't do a thing about it.

"Now that we've gotten that taken care of," Gero said. "Brandon can tell you what he wanted to say."

Once Brandon was done with Maron, he looked over at Eighteen's limp body. "You must be wondering why we wanted you here," he started. "the thing is, I am giving you a second chance of redemption. You see, we need you for this little project of ours. But if we snatch you up, the others will search even harder with two gone missing. So, I need you to do something for me."

Something told Eighteen that this was going to be messy.

"I want you to go back over to Kame house- with Maron," he explained. "you are to tell Krillin you want nothing to do with him anymore and that he can keep Maron. Tell him that you've found somebody else. Once you've done that, you are to come back here."

"I'm trusting you that you won't just run home and hide," he said. "because if you do, I'll find you and I'll kill them both."

She was right. It would kill her and just totally rip her heart to shreds, but she would rather do this then have Krillin and Maron wind up dead. She could already feel her heart begin to ache just at the thought of it. Her family...they meant everything to her and two of the three people she had resented most in her life were now stripping apart her happiness.

"I'm sure you're wondering why we want you," Brandon put in. "but the fact is that we never accomplished our dream. Thanks to whoever it was that killed off Cell, our dreams of grandeur were destroyed. Therefore, we plan on doing the whole project over, but this time he will be much stronger. And how do you get him to be stronger, you ask? Simply put- by strengthening you and your brother. When he absorbed the two of you the last time, you weren't as strong as intended. But this time things will be different. This time when you are absorbed, he will be quadropple the strength he was last time!"

How was that possible?! There was no way! Didn't it take years to create the last cell?! No! It just wasn't possible what he was saying!!

"You can reactivate her," Brandon gave Gero permission. "I'd like to hear any questions she has."

Gero pressed the button again and immediately Eighteen could move. As soon as she could, she spoke. "You plan on finding Seventeen as well?"

"Already done that," he replied pridefully. "he's in a very small room- shut down, of course. I've already finished his upgrading."

Her brother had been alive after all! But how in the world did they have the luck of finding him so quickly when she had never been able to find him herself? This all was so mind blowing!

Eighteen pushed herself back up to her feet again. Precautiously, Gero backed away with the remote still in his hand. "You really will leave my family alone if I do that?" Eighteen asked, making sure.

"I promise," he replied sincerely. "as long you do not tell a soul what we plan on doing, of course."

"I can deal with that," Eighteen sounded sure of herself.

"You know, I think that maybe tomorrow you should head home with Maron," Brandon suggested. "it might seem kind of odd for you to appear back home the same night you left and tell your husband you're leaving him."

At least this meant she could have some time with Maron until tomorrow. "Will I ever see them again?" Eighteen asked.

"In battle, sure," Brandon responded. "but nothing else."

"Can you let me have some time with Maron?" Eighten asked.

"Why in the world would we let you do that?" Brandon asked, smiling sadistically.

"Because this is my last night with her," Eighteen replied.

"No." Brandon replied sternly.

"Deactivate her again and put her up on the table." Brandon told Gero.

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**Disclaimer: How mean! Heehee! Just wait until the next chapter! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Here come the tears. My boyfriend ought to get sad after reading this. Poor old Eighteen.**

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"It's time." Brandon walked in the room, reactivating Eighteen.

The sun was shining through the windows. All night Eighteen had been forced to be shut down. Despite that fact, though, she didn't get a wink of sleep. All she could do was blankly stare at her beloved daughter and silently cry. Today was her last day with her family...why did things have to be this way? Her heart was already aching. She never imagined this would ever happen.

Careful not to cause her broken arm to hurt, Eighteen got up off the table. Immediately, she ran over to Maron, who was awake as well. She didn't say anything to Eighteen though- probably because she was afraid of Brandon. Without even asking, she slowly removed the wires from Maron and grabbed her up in her one good arm.

"Let's go over the plan again," he walked over to the Eighteen and Maron. "you are to head straight over to Kame house, hand over Maron to Krillin, tell Krillin you are leaving him and that you've found somebody else, and to immediately leave. I don't want any doddling."

Eighteen nodded her head in response. Walking towards the door, she opened it and made sure Maron was secure and then blasted off into the morning sky. She'd make sure she found some way or another to slow things down before she had to tell Krillin.

"Mommy, are you going back home?" Maron asked.

"Yes, sweetie," Eighteen kissed her daughter on the head lovingly. "I love you."

"I love you too, mommy." Maron sounded happy to be gone from that awful place.

Soon enough, they reached Kame house. Gently landing on the sand, Eighteen let go of Maron who ran to the door ecstaticly. If only Eighteen could stay...She felt tears trying to come to her eyes, but she fought them away. Right now wasn't the time to cry because it wasn't happening yet. When it happened, then she could cry.

Maron knocked on the door as Eighteen approached it as well. Almost simultaneously, Krillin answered the door. At first, Krillin didn't notice Maron since she was shorter than him, but once she said his name...

"Daddy!!" Maron ran up to Krillin and hugged him tightly.

"Maron!!!" Krillin smiled from ear to ear, hugging his daughter right back. He closed his eyes as he just held her. Tears started to fall from his closed eyes- tears of joy. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Eighteen just smiled. She delighted in seeing the two people she loved most reunited again. It just hurt to know that very soon she would have to leave them forever. She didn't know how she was going to survive this emotional breakdown. If she couldn't see them again, though, she might as well just die...

Krillin grabbed up Maron and took her inside. Eighteen followed them and shut the door behind her. She passed by the kitchen, which was where her mother was eating breakfast. That was a surprise. Usually she slept in until past noon.

"Where was she?" Krillin finally asked Eighteen as he sat Maron down on the couch.

That was something she couldn't give away...Brandon might get mad at her. "In some crumby building..." Eighteen sighed.

"I was worried about the both of you all night," Krillin said, his voice full of love. "I'm just so glad to have you both back!"

Before Eighteen could reply, Krillin asked her a question. "What happened to your arm, baby?"

She had almost forgotten about it being broken. "Oh, that? I got taken by surprise." She blew it off like it was nothing.

"Is it broken?" He questioned.

"I'll be just fine." She lied.

Eighteen placed her attention back on her daughter. Grabbing Maron back up in her arms, she let the momentary happiness set in. She loved Maron and Krillin just so much...especially Maron. Never in her life had she thought she would have a child as special as her. _Never _in her life had she expected that anyone would ever love her like Krillin or Maron. She had been so richly blessed...but now everything was about to be snatched right from under her feet.

Kissing Maron on the cheek, she set her back down with her one arm. "Mommy always loves you, no matter what." Eighteen declared.

"I know, mommy!" Maron gave Eighteen a cute innocent one of a kind smile that only she was capable of giving.

Turning her head to Krillin, she spoke in a serious tone. "I need to talk to you- upstairs and alone."

"Sure, babe," Krillin turned towards where her mother was. "Can you watch Maron for us?"

Her mother walked into the living room with a sandwich in her hand. She looked down at Maron as if she were an insect with disgust. "Fine, go ahead and talk." She replied rudely.

Eighteen made a face at her mother. She decided to ignore her for the moment- at least not until she had to leave. Then she would tell her off for everything she was.

"C'mon," Eighteen started for the stairs. "let's go."

Krillin followed her up the stairs. Once they were in noone's ear shot, Krillin spoke up. "So what's up?" He was so innocent. He just had no clue what was about to hit him. She was going to feel so horrible...

Looking at the ground, Eighteen thought of what to say first. She wanted to tell him about Brandon. Part of her was tempted to try to slip a hint to Krillin that she was being forced to do this. This was killing her. Krillin was the love of her life. He had been the one to finally make her happy and cause her to forget about her awful past. Now he would be forced to be out of her life and the only thing she would have would be the memories of the time they spent.

She bit her lip in frustration. She _hated _Brandon for this! She absolutely hated him with a passion! Tears started to water up in her eyes. She didn't care if she cried this time, though. She loved Krillin.

"What's wrong, babe?" Krillin sounded full of concern. "Did something happen?"

This was it. She had to do it for the two people she loved most. "I..." A tear started to roll down her cheek.

_"Say it. I said I didn't want any doddling." _

It was Brandon. Just the sound of his voice made her hate him even more. She had to do this. It was for Maron and Krillin's safety. "I can't be with you anymore."

"What?!" Krillin jumped in shock.

"You heard me," It was absolutely killing her to say all this. "I don't want to be together anymore."

"Is this a joke? _Please _tell me this a joke!" Krillin started to get upset. "You can't possibly be serious!"

"Do I look like I'm playing?" Eighteen asked, wiping the tear from her face. "I said I don't want you."

"What did I do, Eighteen?! I thought everything was fine!!" Tears started to pour from Krillin.

"Does it matter? I said I don't want you anymore!" It hurt so bad to see Krillin cry. She loved him so much...she hated seeing him hurt like this.

"But why?! Please don't leave me Eighteen, I love you!" Krillin pleaded, more tears starting to pour.

She had to walk away now. If she stayed, things would only get harder. She attempted to walk back down the stairs, but Krillin grabbed her by the wrist. "Please don't go! I need you!" He pleaded. "Besides! What about Maron?!"

Eighteen snatched her arm from him. "I don't love you anymore and I never want to see you again! What's it going to take for it to sink in?!" With that, she stormed downstairs.

Tears were threatening to come pouring from her now, but she couldn't cry here. As she approached her mother, she spoke. "So, what's up your behind today? You don't like my daughter?" She sounded very upset.

"If she was anything but yours I would," her mother insulted. "she's ugly and annoying- just like you were as a toddler!"

She hated her mother, too. After all, it was all because of her that she knew Brandon. If she hadn't had shacked up with the guy when she was living with her, everything would be just fine. Instead of today being such a horrid day, it would be a normal one where the family had fun.

"Screw you!" Eighteen shot back. "I never should've been stupid enough to think you would have ever wanted to change and meet Maron! Once a crack whore, always a crack whore!"

Her mother's eyes widened in shock. "How dare you!" she yelled. "You should be grovel and grateful that I didn't disown you!"

"What? Like you did to my brother?!" Eighteen snarled. "You should be embarrassed with yourself."

"Don't you start bringing up that! It's a whole other story!" Her mother got even more feisty.

Eighteen suddenly lashed out and slapped her mother in the face. In reaction, her mother tried to slap her back, but Eighteen caught her arm and twisted her wrist. "You piece of dirt." Eighteen muttered, pushing her mother to the floor.

Rushing towards the door, Eighteen opened it and slammed it behind her. Jumping up into the sky, she blasted off back to Brandon's place.

That's when the tears started to finally pour. Immediately, all she could think about was Krillin. She hoped he would be okay. Maybe he would get over her and find someone else to make him happy. That actually hurt even worse, though. She loved him. She wanted him all to herself. But she had to think of his happiness. She had ended it with him, not the other way around. It would be normal for him to find someone else eventually.

A beloved memory flashed through her head. The day they had got married. It had been one of the most happiest days of life. It was what had started this legacy of happiness...until now.

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**Disclaimer: -sigh- I am bored. I haven't been in a writing mood lately.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: After the chapter after this, it will take awhile of what to think to happen next. I will be on a BIG writer's block, lol. Yay me -cries- Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them. **

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"Just to let you know, I hate you." Eighteen uttered the words out as she walked through the door. Her cheeks were tear stained and looked a little wind chaffed from flying so fast. She looked a total mess.

Brandon smiled as if he were enjoying her suffering. "Whoa, you look like somebody just died! But anyway, that's not any news to me," he replied. "Hell, I remember the first time you told me that. You've made a habit of saying that ever since the day I-"

"Just shut up, I don't want to rehash the past," Eighteen demanded in a very stone cold tone of voice. "get this crap started already that you were talking about earlier if you're really going to do it."

"Wanna be tough girl, eh?" He raised an eyebrow. "You know, you try to sound tough, but from the looks of it, you aren't exactly what I'd call 'tough'."

"I said shut up!" Eighteen snapped. He had stepped on her toes. "Now can you get started with this little project of yours or are you going to keep playing games?!"

"Jeez, alright, alright," he sighed. "you're no fun, you know that?"

* * *

A week had passed ever since Eighteen had left her family behind. The whole duration of the week Krillin had been fighting depression. He felt like he was in a nightmare and was going to wake up, but every time he was forced to focus on something, he came to the brutal realization that Eighteen really had left him. He didn't even know why, which was causing him to be driven crazy. He thought everything was going good...at least up until when Maron was kidnapped. Maybe she left him because she thought he was a bad father? No...that couldn't be it, could it?

Krillin lay on his bed with Maron sleeping right beside him. The lights were out, but the television was on so you could still see. Unlike Maron, he couldn't find it in him to go to sleep. Every time he was about to hit sleep, Eighteen's face would pop up in his mind and would cause him to jolt back awake.

It killed him when Maron asked where her mommy was. Every single time she asked him, he would just tell her a little white lie. That mommy was just busy. Or that Mommy was just gone for awhile and that she would be back. But in the end, not even he knew where his beloved wife was.

A sigh came from Krillin. His face was tear stained. At the moment, he had seized his silent crying, but he was sure that pretty soon he would have another outburst.

A memory suddenly flooded Krillin.

_"I love you, Eighteen..." Krillin held Eighteen within his arms. "You mean the world to me..."_

_The two of them lay together on their bed. It was the first day of their honeymoon and they couldn't be happier. _

_"I love you too, Krillin," Eighteen looked so happy. "so much..." Her voice was full of love, something that was not common to hear from Eighteen. In fact, no one had ever heard her sound so soft before._

Krillin shook the thought from his head. She had left him so suddenly...did that mean everything she had ever said was a lie? But why? _Why _would someone so beautiful and out of his league want to waste her life with him if she didn't really love him? He just couldn't understand it!

He could remember one night before Maron had even been thought of that Eighteen and him had an in depth conversation on what he was now going through.

_"You'd never leave me for someone else, would you?" Krillin asked, wanting to feel reassurance. With someone so stunningly beautiful as Eighteen, it wasn't possible to not feel insecure sometimes. Every couple, every now and again, wanted to feel reassured that their respective other still wanted them._

_"Never," Eighteen replied sincerely. "I love you, Krillin. Why would I ever be stupid enough to give you up?" She smiled at him and bent down to kiss him on the lips passionately._

She had appeared so sincere...how could this all be happening? Krillin had thought that Eighteen would be the one person he could always trust no matter what- well, besides Goku and his friends, but still! Eighteen was his wife. The love of his life!

Why was this happening to him? He felt like he could just die. If it wasn't for Maron, he would just kill himself to end the pain.

Krillin sighed. Rolling onto his side, he tried to his best to force Eighteen out of his mind. It was impossible, though. All he could think about was her.

After about another hour of nothing but focusing on Eighteen, Krillin felt nausae hit him hard. Jumping up out of bed, he ran to the bathroom and vommited.

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**Disclaimer: Very, very short chapter. I apologize. I have been busy writing my book I want published and am almost finished. Plus, I won't be updating very much anymore because I am in a new and tougher school. They focus on writing there, which is what I need, so when I get back to writing you'll probably notice some sort of difference in my sentence structures, ect.**

**I am also planning on rewriting "Be careful what you wish for" because I am looking back on all my stories and wanting to puke at how sloppy and crappy they appear. It must mean I am getting better at writing, I guess. That is what I've heard people say, anyway. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I hope this is good. Thanks for the reviews. I really appreciate it!!!**

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**Eighteen's POV**

I wish I would just die. After all, what's the point of living if I can't even have a life?

I miss my family so much! I don't even know how I'm managing to survive without them...Maybe it's hope? Then again, what hope do I really have? After all, I'm in the hands of the two people I hate the most- Brandon and Dr. Gero- in that order. They don't care about how I feel. They will never let me go.

Krillin...I love him so much. And I'll probably never get to see him again. I hope for Krillin's sake he can move on and find someone with a normal history. At least he has a chance to move on...I don't. I'm stuck here until doomsday.

I hate Brandon so much! The sound of his very voice makes me want to kill him! You know something? I've always hated him! Ever since my Dad left for Iraq when I was sixteen, my life has been filled chaos. Everything had been fine until Brandon had came into the picture.

It was enough that he stole my mother from me. Then my friends, my own brother, my virginity...but now even my own family?! I swear to God, whenever I can get my hands on him, I'm going to tear him to shreds bit by bit! I want to see him suffer like he's made me for so long!

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"Don't you think it's about time you got up and did something instead of moping around like some little baby?" Eighteen's mother remarked snidely, sitting down at the kitchen table.

Krillin was sitting down in front of her with his head leaning on his hands for support. He was staring off into space. Depression was written all over his face. A sigh came from him, but no reply.

That seemed to irritate her. "You're acting like a real pussy, you know that?" she insulted. "Any other guy would take it like a man and just move on with life."

"Could you please shut up?" Krillin snapped.

"Excuse me?" She said, thunderstruck.

"You heard me," Krillin repeated. "Shut up."

Eighteen's mother made a face. Obviously, she had thought that Krillin wouldn't even stand up for himself. Well, boy, wasn't she wrong? You could tell she wanted to say something else, but she didn't know what. He was stepping on her pride and she refused to let him keep doing that. She had to have the last word.

And that's when she finally came up with something to say. "I don't even see why you're upset, honestly."

When Krillin didn't say anything in response, her mother kept on. "She's not _that _important. You could go out and find someone else that's much more worth it."

That's when Krillin snapped. No one talked down on his wife! He didn't care that Eighteen might have left him for God knows what, he still loved her! He knew she was worth everything to him. He would _die _for her!

"What the hell is your problem?!" Krillin snarled. "For your information, Eighteen _is _worth it and if you were any kind of a decent mother, then you'd know that!"

She couldn't think of what else to say. Krillin had made a point, but then again, in her sick mind, she actually felt insulted. She rolled her eyes at Krillin and burst into sarcastic laughter. "Excuse me? I _was _a decent mother! Do you know what type of bull I had to put up with living with that little whore?! I gave up everything for her and she didn't even acknowledge it! She _ruined _my life!"

"Oh, really? I don't believe any of your crap!" Krillin defended. "The only reason why you say she ruined your life is because your bombed out self was dumb enough to screw some moron you didn't even love!"

Eighteen's mother's eyes widened in rage. How dare he! "I don't know who the hell told you that, but it's a lie! As I said earlier it was _forced _upon me to have that little caniving little brat! I didn't want her! And I never loved her because of it!"

"You're sick! I don't want you in this house house anymore!" Krillin yelled. "Get the hell out!" He pointed towards the door. When she didn't move, he grabbed her by the wrist...when he suddenly heard his beloved Maron speak up.

"Daddy, are you gonna hurt her?"

His anger was averted once her voice registered in his head. He wasn't making a good impression on his daughter. He was upset and wasn't acting like himself. It must have been because he was so hurt from Eighteen leaving him and then having her mother act like an absolute piece of dirt. He let go of Eighteen's mother and looked down at Maron.

He felt bad for being caught in a compromising position like this. Not to mention, Maron had been in bed; asleep, until now. His loud mouth had condoned in keeping her up.

"Of course not, Sweetie," his voice was a bit shaky. "go back to bed. Daddy will be quiet- he promises."

"I can't sleep," Maron replied. "I miss mommy."

"I do too," Krillin sighed, being reminded of Eighteen once again.

Eighteen's mother started to walk away when Maron spoke to her. She, oddly enough, stayed and listened to Maron. Although, she appeared to feel impatient.

"Do you know when the mean man is gonna give back mommy?" Maron sounded so innocent.

Huh? Mean man? What the...?

"Mean man?" Krillin raised an eyebrow. "What mean man, Maron?"

"The mean man that's keeping mommy," Maron revealed.

So maybe Eighteen hadn't left him after all! He felt a tinge of hope spark within him. Maybe Maron could help him find out where Eighteen was! Maybe this was the same guy that had kidnapped _her. _Maybe...

"You mean Brandon?" Her mother oddly enough spoke up.

"The mean man," Maron reiterated. "he's really big and likes to hurt."

"Maron, do you think you can tell us where the mean man lives?" Krillin started to get anxious.

"Uhhh..." She looked up at the ceiling in thought. "somewhere in the city...He poked needles into me and hurt my mommy."

He had to leave tonight! He had to find out where Eighteen was! There _had_ been something suspicious about how Eighteen had suddenly walked out on him! Maybe this jerk had something to do with it! And he was going to find out!

"Can you show Daddy where he lives if Daddy flies us to the city?" Krillin asked hopefully.

"You know she has school tomorrow, right?" Eighteen's mother reminded

"Oh yea!" Darn it!" Krillin sighed. "Then we'll tomorrow afternoon. It's going to be Friday then."

Krillin turned to Eighteen's mother. He seemed to have changed in attitude. He felt hopeful, like maybe there was a chance that Eighteen and him could be reunited. There was a twinkle in his eyes.

"So can you tell me more about this Brandon guy? You were pretty vague the last time we all sat down and talked about him." Krillin asked.

She sighed and then replied. "I don't like talking about him, but I will say he played a big part in Rose and I's life."

"Does he have anything against Eighteen or something?" Krillin pushed anxiously.

"Daddy, can-"

"Go back to bed sweetie, we'll find mommy in the morning." Krillin interrupted Maron. He clearly was very anxious about what he wanted to hear.

Maron headed back to her room obediently, leaving behind Krillin and Eighteen's mother.

"Well did he?" Krillin kept on.

"Vice versa," She replied. "_She _had something against _him."_

Krillin didn't really know whether or not believe Eighteen's mother, but all he could do was listen. "And?"

"She didn't like him because he loved me."

He was sure there was more to it, but maybe there was some truth to it- hopefully. "So tried to break you guys up?"

"At first," She seemed to be getting disinterested with the conversation. "but she gave up after awhile."

"There has to be more of a reason than that."

"No, there's not," she shot back. "just because your thick little head can't comprehend that there doesn't always have to be some big reason for everything doesn't mean that is the case."

Krillin let her insult roll right off his back. He didn't want to start another argument and keep Maron up again. That would not be a good thing for a parent to do.

So instead he walked out the house, leaving Eighteen's mother behind to herself. It suddenly dawned on him that it was amazing that with that loud of an argument that they had not woke up Master Roshi.

The sky was clear tonight and the moon was just a shining. It was so beautiful...but it made him remember one thing and one thing only- Eighteen. On nights like these they would sit up on the roof and look up at the stars together while cuddling. Oh God, how he missed her! He wanted to be able to hold her tightly in his arms and be able to press his lips against hers again! He wanted to be able to constantly remind her of how much he loved her...but he couldn't...not yet, at least.

A tear slid down his cheek. He felt so lonely standing out here all by himself. At least when Eighteen was here and he was outside alone he knew that the one he loved more than life itself was still there.

But she just wasn't.

He would find her, though. Whether she wanted him back or not, he would find her. No matter what it took, he had to at least see her one last time and find out what exactly was going on. He didn't know who, but he would. He just had to!

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**Disclaimer: Okay, where to start? Busy with school, volleyball practice (EVERY DAY I HAVE IT!), and pretty much having too much of a life. I wrote more than half of this at school in sixth period yearbook class...lol. I think I did an okay chapter. Hope you guys are quinched for the next month because I am busy as COULD BE! Whoo!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I seriously want to go back and fix all my stories- even this one...-sigh- Thanks for reading this story, guys! I hope you like this new chapter as well.**

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It was a rainy evening with the clouds dark as a thief's heart. The wind was gushing wildly as if there was a hurricane on the way. Lightening was flashing in the sky and thunder could be heard a few seconds before each lightening striked.

Krillin, for some odd reason, was walking towards an apartment complex. It looked like a real dump. There wasn't anyone to be seen outside it except him. He wore a depressed look to his face. You could have sworn someone had just died.

He had to find her.

No matter what it took, he was determined that he would be reunited with Eighteen. And something was telling him that he was going to find her in this apartment complex. He just knew it!

As he was walking by one of the apartment windows, something caught his eye. A person- a man to be exact. Even though it wasn't Eighteen, he found his body being pulled back to the window. So he did and followed his instincts. When he turned back around, he didn't see anything. Anxious to see more, he got up close in front of the window and peered inside.

What he saw almost killed him.

Eighteen, half naked, was making out in the middle of a kitchen with some guy. The guy was shirtless and he was starting to unzip his pants as he continued to kiss Eighteen's neck. Eighteen's arms were rapped around the guy as if she was more than happy to have him messing with her.

How dare she?! How _could _she? Just how could she do this to him?!

Tears filled his eyes and he balled his hands into fists. He wanted to just squeeze the life out of that guy! That was his wife!

Suddenly, Eighteen looked over through the window and her eyes locked with his. She started to laugh at him. And before he knew it, everything went pitch black.

Now he was somewhere different. He was in a fairly messy house that appeared that it was once well taken care of. The furniture was nice enough. It looked almost brand new.

Suddenly, Krillin heard a loud noise from the next room, as if something had fallen. Curious to find out what was going on, he sneaked around the corner. To his shock, he found a younger looking Eighteen lying on a computer room floor with her computer chair next to her on it's side. A fairly burly man stood next to her. Had he caused the girl to fall to the ground?

Obviously he had.

"You better learn to start listening!" he snarled. "I told you twice already to get off that computer!"

The girl seemed to still be standing her ground despite how threatening the man sounded. Although, she did appear to be a little shaken by the sound of his angry voice.

"And I already told you that I was only talking to my dad," her voice sounded like it was on the verge of cracking. "I haven't heard from him for months. He's fighting in a war and any chance I get to speak to him I'm going to jump all over it."

"Not in this house you're not," He shot back. "and as far as I'm concerned, _I _am your father!"

"Keep on trying to convince yourself of that," she replied. "you disgusting piece of jiggalo!"

The man started to kick his foot into the girl's sides. What she had said must have gotten under his skin. The girl started to ball up into a defensive ball, trying to her best to protect herself.

That bastard! No man should hit on a girl like that, no matter what she says or how mad she makes you! Without even giving it any thought, Krillin ran towards the scene and was shocked to find that the man was turning around to face him. Krillin couldn't stop running for some reason. His legs finally came to a stop right in front of the man. The man locked eyes with him. His eyes were scary looking...they gave the feeling of death. Like this man had no soul on the inside. He grinned at Krillin and suddenly, everything blacked out.

* * *

Krillin awoke to the alarm clock sounding off. Reaching over and turning it off, he got up out of the bed. Walking over to his dresser, he realized he was in a sweat. He wiped the sweat off his forehead. His heart was pounding. Nightmares...a whole bunch of nightmares.

The first nightmare made sense to him, but not the second one. Where in the world had his imagination came up with such a man? Those eyes were scary...real scary. Just thinking about those eyes sent a shiver up his spine.

He put on his khaki pair of pants and a red T shirt. On his way out the room, he slipped on his shoes. It was time for Maron to get ready for school. Maybe while he was waiting for Maron to get out he would look around the city ahead of time.

Walking into Maron's room, he flicked on the light switch. To his shock, he found Maron to be in her bed wide awake. She looked up at him and spoke.

"I can't sleep daddy," she sounded really tired.

Krillin walked over to Maron and sat on the bed next to her. He was fully aware that the reason why she couldn't sleep was because she missed her mom. And he really was right.

Maybe he should just let Maron skip school today. After all, she was going through a lot right now. She had just been retrieved from that scum bag Brandon, which that in it itself is enough to petrify a child, but her mother was now missing. Life was hell for Maron. It was a miracle that Maron was mature for her age or things would be even worse for her.

"I had a scary dream before you woke me up last night, Daddy..." Maron began.

"What was it, sweetie?" He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"That mommy didn't love me no more," Maron started to tear up. "you don't think that's why she left, do you Daddy?"

Krillin grabbed her up in a loving embrace. He felt so bad for Maron...he had to find Eighteen, he just had to now!

"Of course not!" Krillin replied. "last night you told Daddy that the 'mean man' had mommy, right?"

Maron nodded.

"Well then, the 'mean man' must have forced Mommy to leave. That's why we're going to find her and get her back." Krillin interpreted.

"Promise?" Maron seemed like she was about to cry.

"I promise."

"Really?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die," Krillin vowed.

"Can we go look for mommy now?" Maron asked.

Maron shouldn't go to school today, Krillin decided. But should they go ahead and look for Eighteen? It wouldn't hurt anything...would it?

"I tell you what, sweetie," Krillin said. "after you get dressed and we eat some breakfast, we'll do just that- look for mommy."

Maron's countenance brightened. She started to smile and she wiped a tear that was starting to roll down her cute little cheeks. "I love you Daddy."

"Daddy loves you too," Krillin patted her on the head and started out the door. "so you get dressed now and meet Daddy downstairs for some good old eggs and grits!"

Once Krillin and Maron were done eating their breakfast, the two of them headed out the door. Luckily, Eighteen's mother and Master Roshi were still snoozing away. Krillin closed the door quietly behind them and grabbed Maron tightly up in his arms and blasted off towards the city.

Maron wanted him to go slower this time, so he slowed his speed down. The sun had already risen and it felt really good outside. It was just now fall, which meant it was just right in the morning and a little hot in the afternoon.

As he approached the city, he was completely flabbergasted.

Half the city was in rubbles! Smoke was floating up in the sky and Krillin could hear distant screams as people obviously ran for their lives. What should he do?! He had Maron with him! He would have to take her back home and then head back to see what was up.

"What's going on, Daddy?"

"I don't know, sweetie, but Daddy's going to have to take you back home now."

What in the world was going on now?! Don't tell him it that same guy that was responsible for beating up Vegeta! It had to be!

Once Krillin got back to Kame house, he walked Maron back inside and woke up Roshi so he could keep a watch on Maron.

"You be careful, Krillin." Roshi said.

"I will!" Krillin replied, rushing back out Kame house.

As Krillin was flying back to the city, a sudden loud BOOM! sounded. It sounded like bombs, but he knew better. It was someone's shooting ki blast...and whoever it was that was shooting them, their energy could not be detected. No wonder why Krillin had not sensed anything going on before he had came outside to see!

He finally reached the city. Instead of going down to the ground, he decided it would be best to stay up in the air until he spotted who was responsible for all this. There were many slay en bodies lying on the ground...

And only a few people were left alive, running for their lives.

Suddenly, Krillin saw something that _really_ caught his eyes. And what he saw was a real mind blower. It was so shocking to him that he had to rub his eyes at first to make sure he was not seeing things. But he really was seeing what he had thought he had seen.

It was Android seventeen. And he seemed to be enjoying the hell out of what he was doing too. Krillin felt himself begin to panic. He couldn't stop Seventeen from doing anything! Seventeen could easily kill him and probably would seeing as he was so unmercifully killing all these other innocents!

Krillin suddenly felt a whole bunch of ki coming this way- fast. He recognized them as Gohan, Vegeta, Yamcha, Trunks, and Goten. Yes! He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Gohan could easily take care of Seventeen!

It dawned on him that Seventeen had never done anything like this before, even when he was looking for Goku. So why now? Why so suddenly would Seventeen do this? Heck, Krillin had thought Seventeen had just fallen off the face of this earth with the way no one had ever seen him since Cell!

Krillin could now sense everyone even more now! He could see them approaching the scene off in the distance. Deciding he would confront Seventeen with the gang, he flew over to them.

"How long have you been over here, Krillin?" Gohan asked.

"I just got here," Krillin explained. "I was going to look for Eighteen, but I guess there's been a change of plans."

"You still haven't found her?" Gohan sounded sympathetic.

"Nope," Krillin sighed.

"Well, now isn't the time to chat- we've got more important things on our hands," Vegeta pointed behind Krillin.

Before anybody could say anything else, Krillin twisted around in time to find a humongous energy blast heading their way. Seventeen knew they were there! Crap! And this energy blast was approaching them quickly- too quickly for Krillin to get out the way...

Luckily, Krillin was pulled away from the blast by Gohan. The energy blast zoomed right past everyone and headed nowhere into the morning sky. Every one was okay. They had all managed to evade the attack.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in."

Behind them! Every one twisted around to be greeted by none other than Seventeen. He was wearing the exact same outfit as the last time they had seen him. All except for the fact that he was wearing a tan colored coat that reached almost all the way down to his knees. There was a cocky look to his face. But why should he feel cocky? He was well aware that the Z gang could easily kill him! There had to be something up!

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?" Seventeen crossed his arms over his chest.

"You've sure got some balls, don't you android?" Vegeta remarked. He appeared to sound just as cocky. "Do you have a death wish or something?"

"I think I should be asking you that," Seventeen replied. "after all, you could hardly stand your own against Cell, right?"

"Shut up, android!" Vegeta snarled. "If memory serves me right, you couldn't even stand _your _own against C-"

"Calm down, Vegeta! He's just trying to get under your skin!" Yamcha advised.

Vegeta scowled, but to every one's relief, did not reply.

"He doesn't look that strong to me." Trunks inputted.

"Well, he's definitely not weak, but if he's still as strong as he was last time, then Vegeta and Gohan could easily take him down." Yamcha stated with confidence.

"I wanna' fight him first." Goten put in. He sounded like a miniature Goku.

Where had Seventeen been up until now? Man, wait until he told Eighteen that he had-! Oh...wait, Eighteen wasn't with him anymore. And besides, it would probably devastate Eighteen to finally hear about where her brother is and then find out that he's off killing innocent lives.

He had to ask Seventeen. Yes! He might know where Eighteen was!

"Seventeen," Krillin finally spoke up. "do you know where your sister is? You know, Eighteen?"

Seventeen looked over at Krillin. He seemed to be taken aback by what Krillin had asked. "What's it matter to you, shorty?"

Crud...this wasn't going to be a piece of cake getting the answer out of Seventeen. Obviously Seventeen did not know that Krillin was married to his sister. Seventeen probably wouldn't like it, either.

"She's my wife, of course I want to know where she is." Krillin boldy replied.

There was a moment of awkward silence until Seventeen broke out into hysterical laughter. "You're kidding me! _You _marry _my _sister?!"

"I'm serious!" Krillin insisted.

"Enough of this sentimental rubbish! He obviously is not going to tell you so just accept it before he kills you!" Vegeta exclaimed. "Besides, I think it's time we started talking with our _fists _instead!"

"Agreed!" Seventeen replied. "So whose first? Or do you all wish to take me on at once?"

"All it'll take to get rid of you is _me!" _Vegeta yelled.

"As you wish, saiyan _prince!" _Seventeen suddenly disappeared into thin air.

Before Seventeen could reappear, Vegeta transformed into his Super Saiyan state. His eyes searched the area frantically for Seventeen. Everyone else backed away from the soon to be battling warfare.

"Come out, android! I haven't got all day!" Vegeta snarled.

Suddenly, Seventeen reappeared right in front of Vegeta with his fist pulled back. Before Vegeta even caught onto the attack, it was already too late. Seventeen's fist smashed right into Vegeta's cheek, sending him flying backwards. Forcing himself to come to a stop, he regained himself.

"That the best you got?" Vegeta didn't seem to even realize that his nose was lip was bleeding.

"Not even close." Seventeen grinned.

"Then good!" Vegeta snarled, rushing towards Seventeen with his fist cocked back ready to punch.

Seventeen didn't seem to be intimated the slightest bit. In fact, he seemed calm. Once Vegeta got up in his face and attempted to punch him, Seventeen dodged it like it was nothing. And instead of taking this to his advantage and trying to attack Vegeta, he allowed Vegeta to keep on throwing a massive barrage of punches at him- all in which he dodged with ease.

Despite how obvious it was that Vegeta was not going to be landing a punch any time soon, he still continued on. Seventeen was still dodging them like they were nothing- until he finally decided to end the useless barrage of fists that were flying at him by simply ducking to the side and then kneeing Vegeta in the gut.

While Vegeta grabbed onto his gut in pain, Seventeen raised his fists above his head and then slammed them down upon Vegeta's head, sending him flying down into the city- fast. Seventeen wasn't holding back anymore, that was for sure.

"Dad!" Trunks exclaimed in concern for his father, rushing towards Seventeen's back in attempt to attack him. "You jerk!"

Seventeen simply turned around with his right hand extended out. A yellow ki blast shot from his palm and right dead into Trunks, causing him to fly backwards.

Suddenly, Vegeta appeared right above Seventeen's head with an already charged ki blast in the palms of his hands. "Die!" Vegeta spat visciously.

Before Seventeen was able to move out the way, the blast slammed right into him. You could no longer see Seventeen thanks to all the smoke. Vegeta seemed to already be claiming victory.

"Hah! Pathetic little android!" He remarked, gleaming with pride.

"Vegeta..." Gohan spoke up. "I wouldn't speak too soon..."

As the smoke began to disappear, you could make out a figure with what seemed to be a ball of energy around them. Eventually, you see normal again and find Seventeen surrounded by an energy shield. Slowly, it began to disappear.

"Maybe I should fight him, Vegeta," Gohan suggested. "he's a whole lot stronger than last time."

Vegeta's pride seemed to be hurt. "Oh, shut up! I haven't even gotten started yet!"

"Well then, you better start now or else it'll be a piece of cake ending your life." Seventeen warned.

"It's you who should be worrying!" Vegeta replied.

"I'm serious, Vegeta!" Gohan insisted. "I know what I'm talking about- trust me! He's much stronger than before! I'm coming into this fight no matter what you say. "

"How about all of you against me?" Seventeen offered.

"You wouldn't stand a chance, android!" Vegeta replied.

"I mean business," Seventeen responded. "let me fight you all."

"You must have a death wish, huh?" Vegeta continued on. "You'll be obliterated!"

"If you're that confident then let's get started." Seventeen seemed to be getting a little impatient.

"Alright." Gohan joined in, flying over towards Vegeta along with everyone else.

Oh man! Krillin felt his heart skip a beat. He was the weakest one in the whole gang! He was _so _going to die! Maybe he could just...no, no, that would be cowardly and unlike him to avoid this fight. He would be letting his friends down- even if he was the weakest. He'd just have to pray hard that he didn't get killed.

Suddenly, Seventeen placed his hands out in front of him and formed a humongous ki blast in the palms of his hands. "Tah!" He grunted as the ki blast shot from his palms and towards the Z warriors.

Everyone broke away from each other and instead were left to fend for themselves. It seemed that Seventeen was purposely trying to stir them away from the other. Before anyone could try to keep up with him, Seventeen teleported behind Yamcha and punched him right in the neck; knocking him out cold. Yamcha's limp body fell to the city rubble.

Nervously, Krillin watched in fear. He was next! He just knew it!

Goten and Trunks suddenly came out of nowhere towards Seventeen and attempted to double team him, but Seventeen dodged both attacks from them with ease. In return, he grabbed Goten by the hair and slammed him straight into Trunks and sent a ki blast flying their way. He was a lot stronger!

But not strong enough to expect the attack that came from Gohan from behind.

"Ka-me-ha-me-HA!" A gigantuous blast made contact with Seventeen's back.

Seventeen flew forward at the speed of light towards the ground. With a loud boom, he slammed down into the city, totally destroying what had been left of a building. The building collapsed on him and he could no longer be found.

"We can finish him now! While he's down!" Gohan shouted to every one.

Vegeta, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and Krillin all flew towards the ground. Once they were a few feet away from the collapsed building, they all began to charge up a blast- including Krillin. He was glad that Gohan was strong or else he was sure Seventeen would have killed him.

Out of nowhere, a man with black hair that was wearing a tank top with jeans walked in front of the building. Brandon!

And of course, everyone stopped their ki blast.

"Sir, please get out the way!" Gohan asked politely. "We don't want to hurt you!"

Brandon smirked at them. "You can't hurt me," he replied. "now if you don't mind, I have something of mine that I need to retrieve."

Brandon jumped on top of the pile of remains that was on top of Seventeen's body. Eventually he pulled enough out from on top of Seventeen to recover him. Once he was done, he threw Seventeen over his back and onto his shoulder.

"Who the hell are you?!" Vegeta demanded.

Brandon, oddly enough, glanced over at Krillin. He seemed to know exactly who Krillin was. "_You _know who I am, don't you?" He asked, still smirking.

Krillin, at first, didn't know what he could mean, but then it suddenly dawned on him. Brandon! It had to be! Why else would he have something to do with Seventeen! That must mean he really did have Eighteen, too!

"You!" Krillin started to get angry. "You're Brandon, aren't you? You're the bastard that's got my wife!"

"What gave it away?" Brandon chuckled. "That little brat of yours? Or the whore?"

"Where is she?!" Krillin demanded.

"Somewhere," Brandon replied. "I'm not here to discuss Eighteen. In fact, my task has already been completed. It seems Seventeen still has a whole bunch left to fix before he's ready."

"Ready for what?!" Krillin asked. Maybe whatever he was doing to Seventeen he was also doing to Eighteen.

"You'll see," Brandon said. "take care now."

And with that, Brandon teleported right out of sight.

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**Disclaimer: Well, I outdid myself. I thought I was on a writer's block and it turns out I am not! I was in class while writing this! Lol! I got the idea just while staring blankly at the computer screen. Weird, huh? Actually, I was remembering back in Dragonball GT when Android Seventeen was briefly reunited with his sister and destroyed all those cars. Anyway, I hope you guys appreciate this chapter! I enjoyed writing it! Although, my fighting scenes are a bit rusty...so excuse me for that!**

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